


My Ride or Die -Fantasy Kiribaku

by suncatxx



Category: kiribaku - Fandom, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:14:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 24,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27780586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suncatxx/pseuds/suncatxx
Summary: Kirishima is a dragon. Well, partially. But pretend you don't know the second part.Bakugou is a berserker, a term meaning warrior, survivor, and outsider.Certain special dragons have a sense where they can tell when someone is meant to be their mate. Kirishima is one of these dragons, and he's incredibly to be surprised when his sense tells him that Bakugou is his future mate, a human of all things.They meet when Bakugou is sent to capture and kill Kirishima for King Endeavor, and thus the friendship... and romance of the two begins.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Kirishima Eijirou
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

**Kirishima**

Life wasn’t too good for me. Because of a “special power” I had been born with (I saw it more as a curse), every species and powerful tribe was out to get me. Just this month, I had escaped sixteen different groups that had tried to capture me. Most of them sought my skin for its hardening abilities, and I had barely escaped from them with my life. Others kept me locked up to watch and admire, and they didn’t feed me or give me water.

Sighing as I remembered all of my close escapes, I tucked my head further under my wing. Wind echoed through my large ears, startling me every few seconds while I tried to sleep.

After a few minutes, the whistling of the wind mixed with whispers. Whispers in an elven language…. I didn’t know much of their language, but I had come to understand a few words.  _ “Dragon. There. Get it.” _

I jumped up and started running through the forest at full speed. My huge claws scraped against tree roots, nearly tripling me. My breath quickened and I tucked my wings close to my body to avoid scratching them on branches or trees.

Turning my head the slightest bit to the left, I could see the elves chasing me, right behind my wildly swinging tail. I knew that dragons weren’t meant to run, we were meant to fly. But I had never been free for long enough to learn how.

Shouting orders in their language, the elves spread out and slowly caught up to me. A pair of them, one on either side of me, held two ends of a net.

_ No, no, no. I can’t get caught again. _ Panicked thoughts spun through my head. I forced my aching legs to move faster. I swept my tail in a wide arc behind me, knocking over several of my pursuers.

_ I’ve got to try to fly or I’ll never get away. _

Letting out a massive roar, I raised my wings and leapt into the air. I pushed my wigs down and slowly but strongly flapped them. To my pleasant surprise, I rose a dozen or so feet into the air. I roared in happiness as I began to climb higher.

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. My head drooped and a strong wave of exhaustion overcame me. I looked down to see a light-haired elf with a bamboo tube still pressed against her lips.

The poison in the dart she had shot flowed into my bloodstream. My wigs stopped flapping, no matter how hard I willed them to let me escape. My claws ached and my tongue felt numb.

I crashed through branches and leaves, tearing through vines and sending flocks of animals flying into the sky. I lay on the ground with my eyes still open although my vision blurred and distorted.

The Elves ran over to me and bound my wings and legs to my body. They shoved a muzzle over my mouth and forcefully buckled it behind my head.

One remaining crow swooped low over me and flew straight up into the blue sky that was streaked with silvery clouds.

_ Take me with you…  _ I helplessly thought to the bird. My thoughts muddled and my eyes rolled into the back of my head and shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Kirishima**

I awoke to the sound of yelling.

I slowly opened my eyes, but all I saw was gray. I tried to lift my head, but it was chained to a cold stone floor, along with the rest of my body.

I couldn’t move an inch. Panic bloomed in my chest and spread through my whole body. My scales scraped grooves into the stone I was chained to.

The shouts around me turned into gasps of excitement. I felt something sharp poke my side and I snapped my head around to growl at the buff, dark haired elf holding a spiked key. He was unlocking my chains.

Once he pulled off the cuffs and chains, the elf slowly backed up and exited the arena we were in through a door that blended into the wall.

Another door opened, stone grinding against stone. A pair of glowing yellow eyes glared at me from the darkness behind the doorway.

I gulped backed away slowly, my claws scratching on the ground.

The noise of my talons made the creature in the dark narrow its eyes. I raised my hackles and growled, but there was terror in the noise.

The animal with glowing eyes slowly paced towards me out of the dark tunnel.

The light shining in from the caged-in ceiling bounced off of thick feathers and stiff fur. The animal- a griffin- snapped its beak threateningly.

“H-hey, we don’t have to fight.” I pleaded. I wasn’t sure if the griffin would be able to understand me. Very few species were ancient enough to understand the dragons’ language.

“Mmm, don’t we?” To my surprise, the griffin cocked her head.

“What do you mean by that?” I said quietly. 

“Let’s see, I fight you and I get freedom. That was the deal I was given. So I simply have to kill you and then I can get out of this hellish place.” The griffin growled and launched herself at me.

“Kill me?!” I ducked away and ran along the walls of the arena.

“Yes. Now stop running so I can do it quickly!” She screeched.

“Who in their right mind would allow themselves to be killed?” I pointed out, still running.

“Then I suppose I’ll have some fun with you.” The griffin flapped her wings and rose into the air. She shot forward and landed in front of me.

I hesitated below her shadow as she raised a clawed front foot. Just then, my fighting instincts that had been buried under my fear for so long kicked in.

I felt my pupils narrow to slits. My upper lip curled and I stood up on my hind legs so that I towered over the griffin. “I won’t just lay down and die!” I roared.

Fear glinted in the creature’s golden eyes. Claps and shouts erupted from the group of elves and humans watching the fight.

Flooded by panic, I could feel control slipping out of my body. My instincts were taking over.  _ Shit.  _ I really didn’t want to hurt this griffin…. but what could I do? I wanted to survive.

I roared loudly, and I can’t remember anything that happened after that. All I know is that when my mind cleared, armor clad Elves were dragging the feather-and-furred body of the female griffin out of the arena and dark blood stained my claws.


	3. Chapter 3

**Bakugou**

I stomped down the packed dirt path, shoving people out of my way. My fur cape billowed behind me, and I was making quite a nice scene.

“Sir, please listen!” A messenger scrambled after me.

“No! I don’t give a fuck about what King Endeavor wants to say about me this time.” I snarled and sped up my pace.

“Sir, the king has orders for you!” The man grabbed the edge of my cloak.

I slapped his hand off and spun around to face him. My eyes were full of rage.

“ _ Never _ touch me again, you stupid bastard!” I yelled.

“I apologize!” The messenger dropped to his knees and bowed.

“You should have enough sense to know not to touch me! Your apology is invalid and all I have gained from this torturous afternoon of you following me around is that King Endeavor’s servants have no more brains in their skull than he does!” I loomed over him.

“Is that right, berserker?” A gruff voice said calmly from behind me.

I turned my head to see King Endeavor himself.

“Yes, that’s right!” I crossed my arms. “Did you get so sick of me declining your orders that you wanted it to be in person this time?”

“No, I came in person in hopes that my presence could persuade you to listen for once.” Endeavor chuckled.

“Don’t laugh, old man.” I growled.

“Then at least listen to my request before you oppose it.” Endeavor proposed.

I sighed. While I had been talking, guards had surrounded me. I could have taken them all down, but I didn’t want to waste the energy right then.

“What, then?” I scoffed.

“Have you heard of the Stone Dragon?” Endeavor asked. I opened my mouth to speak but he held up his hand. “And before you say it’s a legend, an elven tribe has confirmed its capture. I would like you to steal the dragon from them and bring it back to me  _ alive  _ so that it’s pelt may be used in clothing for me and my son.”

“What do I get out of it?” I raised an eyebrow.

“The wings.” Endeavor smiled in a victorious sort of way.

“The wings, eh?” I placed a finger to my chin. “Alright.”

“Actually?” Endeavor looked surprised.

“Yeah.” I spat in my palm and held out my hand.

With a disgusted grimace on his face, the King shook it and wiped his own hand on his trousers.

I snickered. “Bye then,  _ your highness. _ I’ll be back soon with your dragon.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Bakugou**

After I spoke with King Endeavor, I stopped by my home to get some supplies.

I lived in a cave deep in the forest. I liked it there, it was isolated and calm, and the stone kept the weather out. The cave had three sub-caves behind the main one, one I used as a sleeping area, one as a weapons room, and one as a storage cave for anything I needed but didn’t want out all the time.

I went into that last room and pulled out a leather bag. I didn’t put anything in it, but you never know when you’re going to need a bag on a journey.

In the weapons room, I pulled a sword off the wall and began to attach the sheath to my belt, then pulled it off and put it back on the wall. If I needed to fight, I could do it bare-handed.

I walked out of the cave with my empty bag and pulled a curtain of vines over the entrance to hide it.

Making my way down to a large river near my cave, I started to follow a path that went to a closeby village. Sighing as the sun began to dip below the trees, I pulled my cloak around my shoulders to cut out the cold wind.

My hide boots crunched on orange and red leaves. I walked down the path at what might seem like a brisk pace, but it’s just the way I walk.

I saw a sign with words written in glowing letters;  _ “Plus Ultra river, 0.6 mi South. village of Spearhead, 1 mi East. castle Endeavor, 2.7 mi West.”  _ **(A/N: I think Spearhead is a good substitute for Gunhead (the agency Uraraka trained under), right? I’m just a 🤡 but wbk)**

I decided to stop by the village to see if anyone had heard about the exact whereabouts of the Stone Dragon.

About ten minutes after the sun had set, I reached the village. I walked past the six-armed guard I knew well and had arm-wrestled many times.

Everyone who lived in this village was close enough to me that I considered many of them friends… sometimes. It was rare that anyone would have that title in my mind, but these were the lucky few.

There was the guard, Shoji, the witches, Uraraka and Hagakure, and Tsu, and the knight, Jirou. A few of the villagers were half-breeds, like Ojiro, Tokoyami, and Koda. The rest of them weren’t too important and were bakers or traders or barkeepers or tailors. These included Aoyama, Iida, Satou, Yaoyorozu, and Deku. Deku wasn’t his real name, but one I had started calling him when we were young.

Deku means “someone who can’t do anything”, which I figured was perfect for that incompetent bastard.

Out of the people in that village, there were my “friends”, those I just talked about, and then there were the people I could get drunk and lose control with. The people that I actually considered my best friends and I couldn’t live without, not that I would ever tell them that or admit it to anyone. Those included Hanta Sero, Mina Ashido, and Denki Kaminari.

Anyway, back to real life. I passed Shoji and made my way to Uraraka’s shop.

“Bakugou!” Iida waved at me from a small sheep pasture. “What brings you to the village?”

“I’m here for information. Fuck off, Glasses.” I sighed. 

“Well, I-” Iida pushed his glasses up by the bridge and turned away from me.

I smirked and continued on my way.

I reached the black wooden building that had jars of fireflies floating around the doorway. I knocked on the door and a wooden mouth opened up in the middle of it.

“Business?” It asked in Hagakure’s voice.

“Let me in, Invisible Bitch.” I snarled.

“Well damn, it’s Bakugou!” The mouth melted back into the door and it swung open.

“Ochako-chan!” A short light blue dress seemed to float in front of me. The sleeve lifted to where the mouth of the wearer would have been. “Bakugou’s here!”

“Ugggh.” I heard Uraraka’s groan from a back room. “Again?”

“Yeah again, Round Cheeks. King Endeavor’s orders or whatever.” I nodded at Hagakure and walked past her into the back of the shop.

“Oh so you finally accepted one of his orders?” Uraraka spun around to face me as I walked through the doorway. She was wearing a black and maroon dress and hovered a few feet in the air as always.

“Yeah.” I shook my head. “You’re supposed to be smart about stuff right?”

“Well I  _ do  _ have all of the information in the world.” Uraraka tossed and caught a crystal ball.

“Stop showing off. Save that for your shitty boyfriend, Deku.” I growled.

“Is someone jealous of Izuku?” Uraraka fluttered her eyelashes mock-flirtatiously at me.

“You know full well I’m gay, Uraraka. Quit that and just tell me where the Stone Dragon is.” I tried to snatch the witch’s crystal ball as she caught it again, but she held it close. 

“The Stone Dragon….” Uraraka floated over to a table and chair that was suspended in the air. She sat and placed the ball on the table to look into it. The witch’s eyes clouded over and the crystal ball turned stark white. 

After a few minutes of staring into the glass sphere, Uraraka’s gaze cleared and she sat up.

“I’ll give you a map.” She said, rummaging for one in her shelves of scrolls. Uraraka then opened the map and traced a line in bright green from the village to some cavernous area in the North. “This is the path you should follow.” She said as she rolled up the map and handed it to me.

“‘Kay.” I took the map and stuck it in my leather bag. “I’m leaving.”

“Ah- were not done yet.” Uraraka waved me into a massive supply closet with rows and rows of jars full of mysterious solutions.

“What now?” I snapped. “I need to leave as soon as possible.”

“Mmm, yes you should. It’ll take a few days to get to that elven tribe.” Uraraka peered at the labels on the containers.

“Ha! I’ll make it happen in a day.” I smirked.

“Of course you will. You’re Katsuki Bakugou.” Uraraka sighed and pulled down a large jar of cloudy light blue-gray liquid. “Invisibility potion. Toru’s recipe.”

“For…?” I took the jar and put it in my bag with the map.

“Getting in and out of those caves, dumbass.” Uraraka poked me in the forehead, but floated up to the ceiling before I could slap her.

I growled and exited the supply closet.

“Did you get what you needed?” Hagakure chimed from a couch in the lobby.

“Yeah. I’m leaving now.” I waved to her, and to Uraraka as well when she glided through the doorway.

“Good luck on your journey!” Uraraka smiled and stifled a laugh.

“What are you laughing at??” I snapped.

“Oh nothing, I just peeked into your future a little bit and I like what I see.” Uraraka pressed her fingertips together. “Bye bye! And don’t forget to invite me next year!”

I snarled again and walked out of the shop, slamming the door behind me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Bakugou**

I had been walking already for a whole day, and the sun was starting to set once again. It took longer than I had expected but I had still gone faster than the “few days” Uraraka had told me it would take.

The green line on the map Uraraka drew me had disappeared little by little, tracking my progress and showing where I was on the map.

I was almost to the Stone Dragon. I simply had to walk a few dozen feet, and then I would reach the entrance to the caverns.

I sat on a large rock to think of a plan.

Should I take the potion before I go in and give it to the dragon to sneak it out? No…. it might wear off at an inconvenient time and that wouldn’t turn out good.

I needed to scope out what it was like in the caves, but I didn’t really have that luxury. The best thing I could do was just walk right in and hope for the best. I stuffed the map I had been following into my bag and walked towards the base of a cliff that loomed ahead of me.

Once I got close to the stone wall, I saw a jagged, dark gaping hole in it. Two elves stood in front of it, the spears they held crossed in an X to block my way in.

“May I enter?” I asked.

“Challenger?” one of them asked with a heavy accent.

“Uh… yeah.” I crossed my arms.

The elves uncrossed their weapons and I walked cautiously into the dark tunnel. A few feet in, small torches were stuck into the wall. They gave off an ominous orange light that reflected off of the minerals in the tunnel walls.

After only a few minutes of walking, the tunnel widened and natural light began to trickle in. I ran my hand against the stone. Silvery particles rubbed off onto my hand. I brushed my hands together to get rid of the dust.

I now stood in a circular doorway. Behind me was the dark tunnel. In front was a stone arena with a chained dome ceiling. And in the center of that arena, chained to the ground with its eyes closed, was a massive red dragon with huge splotches of gray across its scales.

**Kirishima**

Once again, I had been drugged. Once again, I had been chained up. And once again, I had woken on the cold stone floor of the arena. I sighed while the same burly elf from my first fight unlocked me and walked away.

I rose up on all four legs and spread my wings threateningly as I scoped out my challenger. It was a human this time. He was a very small human, compared to the height of the elves and myself, but I could see a fire in his eyes that made me fear his strength.

He was also pretty good looking…. He had a beautiful face and perfect skin and held himself so confidently….  _ What? A human? My sense must be off… that can’t be. _

The man wore a thick fur cape and several necklaces of sharp teeth and jewels fell onto his bare chest. He had on dark denim pants and a brown leather belt, and wore leather boots insulated with fur. Dark tan-colored sleeves covered arms from his mid-bicep area to the middle of his forearm. The sleeves had black patterns at the top and the one on his right arm had two leather straps buckled around them, and a turtle’s shell was fastened as armor on his right shoulder.

“Can we get this over with please?” I said softly, hoping this human could understand me.

“Uh… fill me in on what’s going on.” He replied from the doorway to the tunnel. “I just sorta walked in.”

I blinked once. “You walked in without knowing?”

“I mean, I assume I have to fight you, considering the setup here. Am I right?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah…” I said slowly.

“How good of an actor are you?” The man rubbed his hands together.

“I’d say pretty good, why?” I backed away as he charged me.

The human jumped into the air and kicked my neck with such force, I fell over. I barely caught my head before it slammed against the ground.

“I’m Katsuki Bakugou.” Bakugou placed his foot on my fallen head. “And I have to pretend to fight you if you want to get out of here.”

“W-what?!” A grin broke out on my face. “You’re helping me escape?”

“Yep. So play along.” Bakugou winked.

My heart skipped a beat.

_ Stop that,  _ I scolded it internally.

I lifted my head and Bakugou jumped back, sliding on the stone on his back to make it look like I threw him off.

I discovered that Bakugou had dropped a glass vial full of liquid near my feet. I looked up at him and he pulled an identical one out of his bag and drank it. Nothing happened.

Bakugou charged me again, and I ducked this time. He grabbed my ear and hoisted himself up so that he straddled my neck. “Drink it, idiot! It takes a few minutes to kick in.” He whispered.

I drank the mysterious liquid and then flung my head back to dislodge Bakugou. I whipped my head around and gasped. Bakugou was... disappearing, starting from his toes. I looked down at my feet to see that the same thing was happening to me. Another smile spread across my face and I stalked towards Bakugou, continuing our fighting charade.


	6. Chapter 6

**Kirishima**

We ended up just running around the arena until we both completely disappeared, running from elven guards trying to get us before we were totally invisible.

The crowd shook the chained ceiling. Guards stabbed at the air with their spears to no avail. I stood in the center of the arena with Bakugou standing by me, his hand on my front left leg.

I ducked my head. “Get on my neck once we get out of the tunnel.” I whispered.

“Aren’t you going to fly us out here, shitty dragon?” Bakugou asked quietly.

“Um, I can’t fly. But I can run faster than you.” I said awkwardly.

Bakugou sighed and patted my head. I held back a purr that swelled in my throat. I walked stealthily past all of the guards in the arena and climbed into the tunnel that Bakugou had come out of before we “fought”.

I had to scoot forward up the tunnel on my stomach because I was much too big to get through it normally. Bakugou walked ahead of me, keeping one hand behind him on my nose so that I wouldn’t run into him.

When we got to the exit of the tunnel, Bakugou walked around to my ear.

“I’m going to get rid of those guards.” He whispered.

I nodded and Bakugou’s hand left my head. After a few seconds, I saw one of the Elves grasp at his neck and collapse. The other one dropped his spear and went to check on his friend, but the spear rose into the air and the blunt end smacked down on his head, knocking him out as well.

Hands appeared in thin air wrapped around the spear. The potion was starting to wear off.

“Quick!” I forced myself out of the tunnel and stuck my partially visible head next to Bakugou. “We have to get out before they come after us!”

Bakugou slung one leg over my neck and pulled himself up the rest of the way. He leaned forward, his chest against my head, and wrapped his arms around my neck.

“Uh… what are you doing?” I shifted around nervously.

“Holding on, damnit. I assume you’re going to go fast?” Bakugou sat up and leaned forward to look down into my eyes.

“Not so fast you’re going to fall off.” I laughed. “I have a pretty good equilibrium.”

Bakugou leaned back and placed his hands on the back of my head to keep his balance.

“Ready?” I crouched down and shifted my weight back.

“Go already, Shitty Scales.” Bakugou sighed.

I launched myself forward and sped across the bare sand, kicking up clouds behind me. I felt Bakugou rocking forward on my neck, gripping tightly to my scales.

We were silent for a while.

“Why’d you rescue me anyway?” I asked.

The man stayed quiet.

“I know you aren’t asleep. I can feel you ripping out my scales back there.” I chuckled. “Answer my question.”

Bakugou released my scales, still not saying anything. After a few moments, he took a deep breath, “Why do you need to ask? Just be grateful I did.”

“I am!” His response surprised me slightly. “Just wondering….”

Almost ten minutes later, I was still running. Dragons had amazing stamina for flying, but I couldn't fly so I put it to use on the ground.

Bakugou slumped forward and wrapped arms around my horns and under his chin, looking ahead I assumed.

My heartbeat accelerated. I took shallow breaths, and it wasn’t because I was tired. I could go for an hour or so without even breaking a sweat.

I felt every breath Bakugou took. The warmth of his body seeped into mine and gave me a strange sense of calm. The slow, steady pulse of his heart pounded from his wrists and neck and chest. A gentle wind blew the thick fur of Bakugou’s cape, making it brush against my ears. Bakugou turned his head so that the side of it rested on top of mine. His soft hair tickled my scales, my skin, my skull, my brain.

I felt everything. All the way down to my core.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was falling in love with this man. This human.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bakugou**

I was splayed out on the neck of a dragon. The dragon that I was sent to gather for Endeavor to kill. Probably not the best move, but I wouldn’t get attached. I just wanted to be comfortable.

_ Yeah keep telling yourself that.  _ I thought.  _ Just watch. Keep acting like this and you’ll be keeping it as a pet in no time. _

I smacked my head with my hands to dislodge the thoughts. The smooth pace of the dragon’s running lurched a little.

“You okay?” He asked me.

“Yeah I’m fine. Just getting rid of some stupid thoughts.” I growled.

To my surprise, the dragon laughed. “I feel that, Bakugou.”

_ See? I don’t even know his name. One way to not get attached.  _

“My name’s Kirishima by the way.” The dragon added.

_ Well there goes that. _

“...‘Kay then, Kirishima.” I reached forward and petted the bridge of his nose. The dragon let out a deep rumbling noise from his throat.

“Did you just growl at me?” I glared at him.

“That wasn’t a growl.” Kirishima sounded embarrassed.

What could it have been? A burp? I thought for a second.

Ohhh. He had purred!

“A purr then, dragon?” I stifled laughter.

“Shut up,  _ human. _ ” Kirishima slowed the pace he was running and ducked his head. “I need to rest.”

“Have I embarrassed you?” I teased him, sliding off of his back once he came to a full stop.

Kirishima walked over to a tree and laid down, wrapping himself around the base of the trunk. He closed his eyes and tucked his nose under a raised root.

I laughed again. “Sleep well, Shitty Scales.”

“Thanks.” Kirishima mumbled.

I turned my back to the tired dragon and laid on my back on the ground. We had stopped in a forest, so the leafy floor was a nice place to rest. I stared up at the sky, the bright blue melting into orange and red.

The only sounds were those of Kirishima’s deep breathing and birds fluttering through thickly leafed branches. Everything was so quiet. Maybe I could get some sleep as well….

_ Exactly thirty seven minutes and twelve seconds later- _

Something heavy smacking me on the head woke me up. My eyes snapped open and I jumped to my feet, ready to fight. It was Kirishima’s tail. He paced around me, wings raised to shield me and growling at something trying to get past him.

“Shitty Scales, what’s going on?” I asked.

Kirishima whipped his head in my direction. “The elves found us.”

“Shit.” I sighed.

“Stay back, I’ll protect you.” Kirishima said.

“Uh, no.” I ducked under Kirishima’s tail and tackled an elf to the ground. I grabbed the blowdart gun and darts from his hands and placed my foot on his chest.

“Bakugou, stop! I can’t let you get hurt!” Kirishima cried. An elf shot a dart into his neck, but his whole body was gray and hardened already, so the tip of the dart simply broke. The dragon swung one of his stonelike wings at the elf who had tried to shoot him, knocking her out.

“I can protect myself, I’m a berserker for fuck’s sake!” I rolled my eyes while shooting an elf in the chest with a sleep dart.

“Fine, just don’t get hurt.” The dragon lunged towards a cluster of four elves, chasing them all against a tree. With one roar from his sharp-fanged maw, the elves screamed and bolted.

“Chill out, Shitty Scales. I get you breathe fire and everything but why do you gotta be so heated?” I kicked an elf in the back and smacked another in the dick, causing the latter to clutch his genitals and stumble away.

“I’m actually one of the non-fire-breathing varieties of dragons-” Kirishima started to say, but I cut him off by throwing an elf at his head.

“Shut up.” I grumbled.

Kirishima swung his head in the air and tossed the elf I had thrown across the clearing we were in. He slumped against a rock but after a few seconds scrambled up and ran away.

“Last one?” He grinned at me.

“Yep.” I brushed my hands together. “Decent work for a lizard.”

“Decent work for someone half the height of the elves.” Kirishima laughed and nudged my head gently with the soft side of his claw.

“Tch.” I scoffed. “You still need rest?”

“I got enough. Where are we heading anyway?” The dragon cocked his head.

“Back to my place. I’m gonna teach you how to fly.” I had already begun walking forward, and I looked over my shoulder with a smirk when I said this.

Kirishima’s eyes glowed brighter than fireflies. “Really?”

“Noooo I just made it up.” I rolled my eyes. “Yes, really.”

“Thank you so much!” Kirishima grinned and pressed his huge head against my body. Just then, I realized that I was the same height as the distance from his chin to the base of his nostrils. This was one huge dragon, yet he was so soft and friendly.

“Yeah, yeah, it makes it easier for me.” I pushed the dragon’s head away from me.

“That’s okay! I’ll be happy to help you out however I can.” Kirishima smiled again. “I owe you my life.”

My heart hurt a little after hearing that. He said he owed me his life, but he had no idea that it was actually on the line if he continued to stay with me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Bakugou**

I walked next to Kirishima. He had offered to let me ride on his neck again, but I had said no since we were no longer running from anything. I needed to stretch my legs anyway. My boots crunched on leaves, but the sound was nothing compared to the ones that Kirishima’s huge feet made. He crushed dry leaves and sticks into the ground, smashing roots that happened to be in his path and scaring small woodland creatures out of their burrows.

We walked in silence -apart from the crunching of leaves- but it wasn’t an awkward silence. More like we were both just thinking of what to say, which was true on my part at least. I wondered if I should tell Kirishima that I was planning to deliver him to death at King Endeavor’s hand. No, there was no point. Not right now, at least.

“We’re in the forest where you live, right?” Kirishima piped up.

“Yeah.” I raised my head to look at him.

“Since we’re already so close, do you want to explore the forest a little?” Kirishima’s tail began to wag, causing huge gusts of wind to sweep leaves around.

“I’ve explored just about every bit of this forest.” I said with a smirk.

“Then show me something cool!” Kirishima grinned.

“Fine.” I looked up at the sky. The sun had fully set and bright silver stars dotted the black sky. The moon hung full and silver in the sky. “Perfect.”

“Perfect?” Kirishima asked, confused.

“The time of night.” I explained.

“Ooh.” Kirishima’s grin returned.

“This way.” I waved my hand for Kirishima to follow me.

I led him through the underbrush to our destination. Kirishima stopped a few times to look at some strangely shaped rocks and admire crystals. Once I pulled him away from a shining sapphire and told him, “That’s nothing compared to what I’m about to show you.” That got his attention.

We passed a tree that was black from its leaves to its protruding roots. It was twisted in a way that made it look braided, which only added to its beauty. Although it was solid black, the tree shone like obsidian and the leaves had flecks like tiny stars.

“That’s so cool.” Kirishima plopped down on his haunches and wrapped his tail around his feet like a cat would. He stared up at the tree that reached above even his head with wonder in his ruby eyes.

“Aaaand still not what I wanted to show you. But we can revisit it later if you want.” I pulled his tail gently with one hand to get him to follow me again.

“What’s better than that?” Kirishima trotted behind me.

“Well I personally think it’s better, but see for yourself.” I pushed the branches of a huge weeping willow aside. “I come here sometimes to be alone. The branches are thick enough to hide everything inside from the outside world.”

Sheltered under the tree was a garden of white flowers. They bloomed from the base of the trunk to the edge of the serene little clearing. The area was completely sheltered by the willow, creating a hidden sanctum.

“Wow!” Kirishima’s eyes widened. Then he cocked his head. “Wait, they’re just flowers. I mean, they’re cool, but what’s so special about them?”

“Just wait a second.” I smiled. I pulled the drooping branches of the willow tree over and under each other until there was a gap wide enough to let in moonlight. I moved so that my shadow wouldn’t block the light from the flowers. “Now take a look.”

Slowly as the moonshine hit each petal, the flowers began to glow. The large white flowers shone brighter than stars.

Kirishima gasped. “That really is cool.”

“See?” I crossed my arms.

“You told me so.” Kirishima laughed and laid down in the flowers. The stems that broke released a white glowing liquid that stuck to Kirishima’s scales. The dragon sat up with a toothy grin on his face that wasn’t in the least bit threatening. White shine was streaked over his muzzle, neck, back, and wings. Little flower buds stuck to the spikes going down Kirishima’s tail, and a little cluster of blossoms had snagged on his horns.

I laughed. “Having fun?”

“Of course.” Kirishima shook his head, flinging glowing flower juice onto me.

“Hey!” I flicked the shining liquid off of myself.

“You still look handsome.” Kirishima mumbled.

“Thanks.” I said sarcastically. White shining stuff was splattered on my bare chest and my face like war paint.

“Thanks for bringing me here.” Kirishima settled down in the bed of flowers. “I think this is the first time in my life I’ve actually relaxed without being paranoid that someone’s out to get me. As long as you aren’t going to kill me, I can say for sure that I don’t have anything to worry about when I’m around you!”

“Yeah….” I looked softly at the dragon. “Don’t worry about a thing, Shitty Scales.”

That’s when I decided, after only knowing the stupid reptile for a day, that I wasn’t going to let him die. This creature deserved to live.


	9. Chapter 9

**Kirishima**

I woke up in a bed of silky white flowers. Moonlight had turned to sunlight through the gap in the willow tree that Bakugou had woven, and it shone softly on my face.

I blinked open my eyes. The flowers that I had broken last night had magically grown back perfectly. Petals and flower heads that hadn’t been mended were sprinkled over my body. I looked down at my stomach and immediately woke up all the way. Bakugou was curled up against my stomach, tucked under my wing.

_ This is going to be the death of me.  _ I thought calmly, although my heart raced and my mind whirled. If I moved, he would wake up and know that he slept pressed against my body. If I didn’t move, he would wake up eventually and the same thing would happen.

_ Do I just wait until he wakes up and kills me? Or is dying of embarrassment better? _

Bakugou shifted a little in his sleep. He turned so that he faced me and gently clutched my chest.

I squeezed my eyes shut, thankful that dragons couldn’t blush.

_ I should get out of this position before he wakes up. It’s the safer option. _

I slowly lifted my wing off of Bakugou’s body. Gently, I pulled my leg out from under him. I held my breath and hoped with all my might that he wouldn’t wake up. My claws snagged on the edge of his cape, but Bakugou did not wake. As quietly as I could, I rolled over to distance myself from Bakugou. There. We were now an appropriate distance apart.

“Phew.” I sighed.

“Morning, Shitty Scales.” Bakugou’s voice said from behind me. I froze.

“Uh… morning.” I rolled over slowly.

“I had the weirdest dream.” Bakugou said, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. “I dreamt we slept really close together. That’s ridiculous though.” He laughed.

“Haha, yeah that’s really funny.” I plastered a fake smile on my face.

“Anyway, what do you want to do today?” Bakugou flopped down on his back.

“You don’t have anything to do?” I stretched like a cat.

“Well I don’t exactly have a job or anything.” Bakugou chuckled. “I live off the land.”

“Well I’m not sure… I’ve never really done anything other than run away and fight and hide for as long as I can remember.” I said.

“Seriously? Ever since you were born?” Bakugou sat up again to stare at me.

“Well… I don’t remember very much about when I was young, but for most of my life.” I shrugged.

“Damn.” Bakugou cracked his knuckles and neck. “Well I have somewhere I can take you if you want to relax.”

“That’d be nice.” I admitted, smiling a little for real.

“Let’s go.” Bakugou stood up and pulled the willow branches that he had woven up the night before back down so that they hung as a curtain once again. He then pulled back an armful of the branches to let me through and dropped them after he exited as well.

“Where are we going? Or is it going to be a surprise again.” I asked.

“Nowhere special, just a waterfall near the cave where I live.” Bakugou said as we started down a slightly worn-down path.

“That sounds really nice though!” I sighed.

“It is.” Bakugou looked over his shoulder and smiled at me. My step faltered and my heart skipped a beat. His smile was so confident, every time.

_ Goddamnit Eijirou.  _ I thought to myself.  _ You can’t fall in love with this guy! He doesn’t even know anything about you. Once he finds out some things, maybe it’ll be okay…. _ I shook my head. It didn’t matter. I’m sure Bakugou only saw me as a dragon. An animal. He would never look at me the way I looked at him.

_ Time skip to the waterfall _

I heard the waterfall long before I saw it. The crashing of the river falling down onto rocks and splashing into the pool could be heard from miles away.

“Is the waterfall close?” I asked, my tail twitching with anticipation.

“Chill out, Shitty Scales.” Bakugou sighed. “It’s close enough.”

“Sorry, I’m just excited.” I forced my body to relax.

We passed through twin big oak trees and walked down a dirt path sprinkled with gray stone. In front of us stood the waterfall in all of its glory. The rising sun glinted off of droplets that sprayed from the plummeting current and the shining silver stones at the base of the pool.

“It’s beautiful.” I smiled and walked slowly to the pool.

“It’s a great place to cool off.” Bakugou slung off his cape and necklaces, placing them in a heap in front of a tree.

“Aren’t you worried about your pants getting wet?” I asked.

“I’m about to take them off if you’d hold on a damn minute.” Bakugou sighed, unlacing his boots.

I jumped back. “You’re taking them off?”

“I do wear underwear, Shitty Scales.” Bakugou shook his head.

“R-right.” I looked away from him and touched my nose to the water. I shook my head to get rid of the droplets that clung to it and gently waded into the pool. The water was shallow and only reached my knees. If I laid down, it went halfway up to my shoulders.

“The water feels nice.” I sighed.

“It’s a good place to cool off.” Bakugou slid into the water. It lapped up to the middle of his chest.

A mischievous thought sprang into my head. Smiling, I lifted my wing back, dipped it halfway in the water, and swung it towards Bakugou. My wing forced water forwards into a massive wave, crashing over Bakugou and pushing him under the water.

Bakugou stood up, spluttering. “The fuck?!” He glared at me.

“I just splashed you a little.” I smiled and looked at him with innocent eyes.

“Two can play at that game.” Bakugou grinned evilly. He walked over to the waterfall, shielding his face against the spray. Bakugou forced his arm into the current of the waterfall and aimed his arm at me like a gun. Water ran down his arm and shot towards me.  **(A/N: pls don’t tell me no one else does/did this in the shower)**

I ducked the stream, but it kept coming. I laughed and splashed Bakugou again, more gently this time.

“Shitty Scales, quit it or I’ll spray your face!” Bakugou threatened.

I gasped. “Not the face!”

“Yes the face if you do it again!” Bakugou laughed.

I broke down in laughter, dropping my wings and letting myself sink down to the floor of the waterfall pool. I rolled onto my back. I laid at Bakugou’s feet. I looked up at him with a huge smile on my face.

Bakugou looked down at me and patted my chin, laughing as well. “Why are you laughing?” He asked.

“I don’t know, I just am.” I said between laughs. “Wait, why are  _ you _ laughing?”

“I don’t know, because you are!” Bakugou clutched his stomach.

We both laughed until tears sprung to our eyes.

“Fuck, Shitty Hair, what are you doing to me?” Bakugou gasped.

“Making you a happier person?” I sat up on my haunches and looked down at him.

“Hmm.” Bakugou stroked his chin. “Maybe.”

“I think that’s what’s happening.” I smiled with my eyes closed.

“Damn, I can’t get rid of you now, can I?” Bakugou sighed.

He stood on his tiptoes and pulled me down by my ear so that we were eye-to-eye. My heart just about leaped out of my chest.

Bakugou squinted into my eyes for a second, then released me.

“W-what was that?” I stuttered as Bakugou climbed out of the waterfall pool and pulled his pants back on.

“Just checking your spirit. A trick one of my witch friends taught me.” Bakugou looked over his shoulder as he swung his cape over his shoulders.

“Uh, what?” I blinked at him.

“If you stare into someone’s eyes deep enough you can see their spirit if you’ve been trained to read it.” Bakugou explained. He walked closer to me and sat on a large silver rock.

“What did you see in mine?” I climbed out of the pool and shook my body to dry myself.

“Pretty much pure joy. And a little fear.” Bakugou smirked.

“Oh. Is that good?” I smiled lightly.

“It’s a lot of joy for a dragon. Usually you only see that in fairies and drunk humans.” Bakugou and I both laughed.

“Well, now that you’ve checked my spirit, can we go to your place?” I wagged my tail a little.

“Yeah sure.” Bakugou stood up. “It’s your place too now.”

“I’ll be living with you?” I stood up abruptly.

“Unless you have somewhere to stay that I’m not aware of.” Bakugou chuckled and began walking along the waterfall cliff..

“N-no, but will I even fit?” I tilted my head and followed him.

“Can’t dragons alter their size? I was wondering that when you wormed through the tunnel at the elf caverns.” Bakugou raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know, I’ve never done it….” I thought for a second. “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Do that.” Bakugou leaned against a tree to watch me.

I stopped walking and closed my eyes. I pressed my wings to my sides and lowered my head. I flattened my ears against my head. I pictured myself becoming smaller, the size of a cow perhaps. My body shook. It was different from activating my hardened scales. When I did that, my skin tightened. This felt like a thin blanket that was draped over my body was being slowly pulled off.

I opened my eyes slowly. Bakugou stared at me, eyes wide with surprise.

“It worked!” I spun around happily. I was only a few inches taller than Bakugou now, rather than ten or so feet.

“Now you know for sure you can fit into my cave.” Bakugou laughed.

“Yep!” My tail wagged at full speed.

“I don’t have a bed or anything for you, so you can either sleep on the floor or with me.” Bakugou started walking again and waved for me to follow.

“And by sleep with you you mean-?” I scurried behind him, once again grateful that I couldn't blush.

“Sleep in my bed with me, dumbass.” I could practically hear Bakugou’s eyes roll.

“I’ll just sleep on the floor.” I laughed nervously.

“‘Kay, I’ll get you bedding next time I go to the village.” Bakugou said.

_ How is he so calm? Can’t he see my obvious gay panic? Or is he just dismissing it because I’m a dragon and not human? _

I tripped over roots a few times on the way to Bakugou’s cave, still getting used to my new proportions. He laughed at me and told me to catch up every time I stumbled.

“Sorry.” I mumbled each time.

We walked next to the waterfall cliff. The top of the rock sheet slowly sloped downwards, and it looked like we were heading for the bottom.

After a little time had passed, Bakugou stopped walking in front of a long curtain of vines that hung from the top of the cliff, that only stretched about fifteen feet above us now.

“Why’d you stop?” I asked him.

“This is where my cave is.” Bakugou explained. He walked to the middle of the wide vine curtain and separated it. A dark hole gaped behind it.

“Wow you really like things hidden by plants, huh?” I stuck my head into the darkness.

“Shut up, it’s convenient.” Bakugou grumbled.

“Of course it is.” I smiled and walked into the black cave. Bakugou pulled something from the wall at the entrance. A torch. Then he pulled some kind of powder from a pocket on the back of the brown leather kneepads he wore and sprinkled it over the torch, which burst into a small flame instantly.

“That’s cool!” I exclaimed. “What kind of powder is that?”

“Instant flame.” Bakugou smiled. “Another something from my witch friend.”

“She’s handy isn’t she?” I peered at the torch interestedly.

“She’s a pain in the ass but yeah, I guess.” Bakugou shrugged and walked into the center of the cave. He dropped the torch into a pit lined with dry leaves, which lit up and illuminated the whole room with orange light. I now saw that we were in just one of a few caves.

This one was pretty empty other than the fire pit, but a few stone benches surrounded it and mounds of blankets and pillows were stuffed in one corner. In another corner, water drilled silently from the ceiling and gathered in a little pool.

“This way.” Bakugou walked to the back of the large cave. There were two tunnels, one forking left and the other right. We went to the right. The tunnel led to  _ yet another pair of tunnels _ .

“How many caves are in here?” I asked, following Bakugou into the left tunnel.

“Three apart from the main one.” Bakugou said. The tunnel widened into another cave, much smaller than the one at the entrance. It was full of random clutter that looked like it shouldn’t have been thrown around the room like it was.

“What’s this room?” I asked, looking around at all the stuff.

“Just a storage area.” Bakugou pulled the now-empty vial of invisibility potion out of his bag and hung the bag on the wall with tons of other ones. He put the vial on a table that looked like the only sorted thing in the room.

“The things on the table are the ones that I need to give back to Uraraka, that witch I mentioned.” Bakugou told me.

“And that’s the only organized place in the room because..?” I poked a basket that looked handmade with my claw.

“Because she’d kill me if I lost her shit.” Bakugou smiled at me and walked out of the cave. We walked past the other tunnel and back to the main cave, where we turned and walked down the left tunnel.

“What did that other tunnel go to?” I asked Bakugou as we made our way down the final tunnel.

“Weapons room.” Bakugou said.

“Woooooooah!” I breathed. “That’s cool!”

“Eh, I can do more bare-handed than with any of those weapons.” Bakugou shrugged.

I stared at Bakugou through the dark. He really was amazing.

“This last cave is my bedroom, I’ll pull out some extra blankets for you so that you can get some rest.” Bakugou said, walking over to a closet carved into the stone wall and pulling two large, thick blankets out and laying them on the floor. Then, Bakugou pulled his boots and cape off and walked over to his bed, flopping down on it on his back.

“Are you sleeping now?” I asked.

“Yeah, you should too.” Bakugou mumbled, his face under a pillow.

“But it’s hardly midday.” I cocked my head.

“And we’re getting up at the ass crack of dawn tomorrow Shitty Scales. I recommend you rest.” Bakugou chuckled.

“Why that early?” I said, voice full of confusion.

Bakugou just laughed and pointed to the pile of blankets with his eyes covered still by the pillow. “Flying lessons.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Bakugou**

“Wake up!” I yelled right into Kirishima’s ear. I had been dressed and ready for ten minutes, but Kirishima hadn’t even given a single sign of alertness.

“Wake the fuck up, Shitty Scales!” I flicked the dragon on his forehead. “I cooked some fish. Come on!”

Kirishima sighed and rolled onto his back. I kicked his stomach, causing him to wheeze and curl into a ball. He lashed his tail and stood up, doubled over. “I’m up, I’m up.” he groaned.

“Good.” I rolled my eyes. “Come out to the entrance cave and get some fish, then you can take a dip in the waterfall pool if you want.”

“Thanks.” Kirishima stumbled down the tunnel from my room to the large cave. He bumped his head on the walls of the tunnel a few times and I had to muffle a snicker.

The cave glowed in a soft bronze light that streamed in from the entrance. The fire pit was lit and a pan that held three fish seasoned with various spices was secured over it.

I pulled the pan off of the fire and threw one to Kirishima, who caught it in his mouth. The dragon’s eyes snapped open and a toothy grin spread across his face. “This is really good!” He said through a mouthful of fish. 

“Nature’s resources.” I said, skewering my own fish and laying it on a stone slab to cut it.

“But you put them together.” Kirishima pointed out, stabbing another fish on his claw and eating it.

“Yeah, thanks I guess.” I mumbled.

I quickly butchered and ate my fish and walked at a brisk pace out of the cave after I had pulled down the vine curtain.

“Hey wait up!” Kirishima trotted after me. A vine tendril had snagged on one of his horns and it trailed behind him.

“Hurry up Shitty Scales.” I laughed, reaching over and pulling the vine off. “You’re really clumsy, it’s kinda cute though.”

Kirishima ducked his head and went a little in front of me to the point where I couldn’t see his face.

“Hey, I changed my mind, slow down.” I laughed and jogged forward to catch up to Kirishima.

“Haha.” Kirishima walked beside me with his wings pressed close to his body to avoid brushing them against me. “Where are we going, anyway?”

“Did you notice how the cliff slopes down so gently?” I pointed at the top of the rock, which was nearly as low as my waist now.

Kirishima nodded.

“If we walk around the bottom and up the slope, it’ll take us to the top of the waterfall easily.” I said as I turned and began to walk up the slow slope. On the way to the waterfall, many big trees with drooping flowery branches tickled Kirishima’s nose and ears. Each time a flower brushed his face, the dragon scrunched his face up and sneezed like a kitten, and each time, I smiled at him and he turned his head away.

After a few minutes of walking, we reached the peak of the cliff. I stood next to a calm river that only became choppy near the waterfall’s edge. The water glowed lightly blue in the sun that was still rising.

Kirishima poked his nose into the water before I could warn him not to, and a translucent hand reached out and rested on his muzzle.

“Huh?” Kirishima peered into the water.

“You’ve disturbed the nymphs.” I sighed. The nymph that had pet Kirishima rose out of the water so that her feet melted into the river, but she looked like she was standing on its surface. The woman, made of water, had a kind and curious smile on her face. She leaned forward to inspect Kirishima, giggling with a sound like bubbles popping when he hardened his scales for her to see.

“She’s cool!” Kirishima grinned at me. The nymph waved at me and I flipped her off.

The nymph had long hair and bangs that curled to frame her face. She held her hand above the surface of the river and lifted it, watery letters popping up and hovering above her hand. The word that appeared read ‘Nejire’.

“Nejire?” I asked her. “Your name?” 

The nymph giggled and nodded. She formed two more words from the water.

_ Mirio. _ The nymph pointed at an empty space next to her. Sunlight seemed to become solid and a man appeared that reflected the light.

“I’m a light nymph.” The words buzzed in my ears but Mirio’s mouth never moved.

“N-nice to meet you!” Kirishima squinted at him. “This is more nymphs than I’ve ever seen in my life!”

Mirio and Nejire laughed, Mirio’s sounding like a deep hum.

Nejire waved her hand to get Kirishima’s and my attention, then pointed to her other side.  _ Tamaki. _

Leaves and dust particles swirled together to form another man, this one looking very uncomfortable. He floated behind Nejire and stood behind Mirio, wrapping his arms around the light spirit and resting his head on his shoulder.

“I’m an air nymph.” Tamaki’s voice whispered through the breeze. “Nejire, why are we here?”

Nejire scowled. She made one hand into a fist and wrapped the other around it. Blowing into the space between her thumbs, Nejire blew a massive bubble like a balloon. She blew the bubble like someone might blow a kiss towards Kirishima, and it popped on his nose.

“Because this lovely young dragon is learning how to fly and we need to cheer him on!” a clear and joyful voice rang out from the bubble.

“That’s kind of us, isn’t it?” Mirio stroked his chin and grinned, his mouth still not forming the words.

A sharp wind poked into my ears and I cringed. A sigh from Tamaki, I supposed.

“Thank you guys!” Kirishima grinned at the three of them.

“Well, now might be a good time to tell you that I have no fucking idea how to teach you how to fly.” I patted Kirishima on the back.

“What?!” Kirishima blinked at me.

“Yep.” I walked to the edge of the cliff and spread my arms with my back to the drop. “Catch me, I guess.”

“Stop!” Kirishima lunged forward, but I leaned back and fell alongside the waterfall.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bakugou**

_ That was a bad idea. _

As soon as I started falling, all air was sucked out of my lungs. Droplets from the waterfall stung my face. I looked into the current to see Nejire falling beside me in the water, looking concerned and reaching a hand towards me. I shook my head. I wanted to see if Kirishima would fly down.

“Bakugou!” Kirishima yelled from the top of the cliff. I looked up to see him dive down headfirst, growing in size as he did. Tamaki plummeted alongside him, but he didn’t assist Kirishima as he struggled to force his wings open against the wind.

In a few seconds, Kirishima was next to me. He pulled me close to his chest and wrapped his wings around me to protect me. I felt Kirishima’s scales harden and his wings scraped against each other with a sound that made me flinch.

“I got you.” Kirishima murmured into my ear quietly.

My eyes widened. I held tightly onto Kirishima’s forelegs. Kirishima raised his head and immediately tucked it back under his wing.

“Prepare for impact.” He squeezed his eyes shut and I did the same. “I promise I won’t break.”

The sound of the water crashing into the pool deafened me. Kirishima pulled me closer to his body.

Once I could tell we were near the ground, fear made my bones cold. I wasn’t scared for myself, I trusted Kirishima. I was scared that the dragon’s scales would crack and he would die from the impact of the fall. Then I remembered something.

“TAMAKI!” I yelled into the wind.

A deep sigh echoed around me and Kirishima and suddenly we stopped falling. Tamaki wasn’t visible, but I felt his presence holding Kirishima’s body just a few feet above the bank of the waterfall pool.

I could feel Kirishima’s heart racing at the speed of light. His breathing wasn’t any slower. It slowly dawned on me what I had done. Kirishima hadn't even needed to fly to save me, he just needed to either trust himself or take a massive risk. I could tell he was shocked by what had happened. Guilt rose in my chest like a bundle of thorns.

I wrapped my arms around Kirishima’s neck and pulled myself into its curve.

“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “That was stupid and I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s fine.” Kirishima’s voice broke with each word. “At least I saved you.”

I broke down. Tears silently flooded down my face and pooled in Kirishima’s collarbone. No matter what he said, even later when he was relaxed, would ever be enough to clear the guilt.

“Hey, it’s okay. I promise.” Kirishima smiled at me. I just shook my head and hugged him again.

_ You stupid, stupid person. _ My mind scoffed.  _ The only thing you’ve done today is nearly kill an innocent dragon. He should have let you die. _

**Kirishima**

“Do you want me to try again?” I asked gently. It had been about an hour since… I guess I’d call it the accident? And Bakugou had calmed down bit by bit.

“How about we ask the air spirit for advice this time.” Bakugou turned his face away, like he was too ashamed to look at me.

“I’m sure you have good ideas, that’s just what you were thinking at the moment and even though it wasn’t the best thing to do, everyone’s okay!” I smiled.

“But next time it probably won’t be okay.” Bakugou said exasperatedly. “I’m a dumbass and I could end up hurting you.”

“Hey, as long as you don’t make us drown we’ll be fine. I’m unbreakable!”

“Don’t be so sure. Even the strongest things aren’t strong at all without limits.” Bakugou mumbled.

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.” A bubble floated in front of me and popped on my foot, releasing Nejire’s voice. I hadn’t even noticed that the three nymphs had surrounded us.

“Stuff it, Bubbles.” Bakugou sighed and shook his head. “I don’t feel like talking about this right now. You got any ideas, Tamaki?”

Tamaki shrugged. “I mean, Kirishima could always just take a running start and hope for the best when he jumps off the cli-”

“Or you could suspend his body in the air and he works to strengthen his wings!” Mirio shoved Tamaki aside.

“I don’t have the energy for that.” Tamaki laid on his back next to Mirio, who was cross-legged.

“Well…” Nejire’s voice hummed near my ear. “If I can make it so that you have permanent air bubbles around your faces, would you guys like to practice ‘flying’ in the water?”

“Huh?” Bakugou curled his lip at Nejire. “How would that work? He’s trying to fly, not swim.”

“Well the movement and suspension is basically the same.” Tamaki put a finger to his chin. “It would help him gain muscle in the right places of his body and get him used to the weightlessness and keeping his body up.”

“That’s a great idea!” I jumped up and wagged my tail.

Bakugou sighed. “Whatever you want, Shitty Hair.”

“Let’s do it!” I grinned. I trotted over to Nejire and rubbed my face against hers, making her laugh. “I’m gonna fly!”


	12. Chapter 12

**Kirishima**

I opened my eyes surrounded by gray and blue and nothing else. My breath went in and out slowly. I was relaxed and floating above the ground that was so far below me, I couldn’t see it.

I gained awareness of my surroundings and noticed that my wings flapped slowly but with great force, pushing water up and down, or down and up. I couldn’t tell which way I was facing. There was no distinguishable light source or ground, which should have scared me, but a constant pressure on my neck and upper back kept me grounded.

Keeping my wings flapping, I turned my head to look at what was making that pressure. A man in a thick fur cape was strapped to my back. His eyes were closed and his breath was shallow. The man’s cape rose in the water and billowed around him. His arms and head were fastened around my neck by thick black ropes, and the rest of his body against my back by the same ropes.

He had white-blonde hair that may have been spiky when it was dry, but now it just floated in a shock around his head.

_ Who is this? Why is he on my back? Where am I? _

My thoughts were sluggish. The man on my back slowly blinked open his eyes. He stared at me in shock. Then he suddenly started thrashing and trying to escape the ropes tying him down. His eyes were widened in fear. Clearly he had no idea who I was, either. I looked around for a way out of the watery nothingness. I watched my scales shift from bright red to dark grey. I panicked.

And it all came back.

_ Rewind about a week or so. _

“Okay, so I’ll be taking you to the Sleepy Waters, the really big deep lake that feeds this river.” Nejire began telling her plan. “The water contains bacteria that makes you incredibly exhausted right when you enter it, and once you fall asleep you’ll have a hard time recalling memories. It probably seems like a terrible idea, but it’s actually the best place to go to do something like this. When you panic, your body takes over and it’ll keep you alive. Your natural instincts will tell you to flap your wings, to take deep breaths, that stuff. The only reason you couldn’t fly before is because you aren’t strong enough to keep yourself up in the air, but the water will help you out. To give you extra motivation to find your way to the surface along the channel, I’ll be tying Bakugou to your neck so he can’t move or assist you in any way.”

“What?!” Bakugou slammed his hands down on the ground. “How the hell is that a good idea???”

“Kirishima is a dragon. He exists to protect. Female dragons are rooted to protect eggs and small, helpless things. Males protect those who have helped them in the past. You’ve done a great favor to Kirishima, I can tell. Whether either of you like it or not, he’s subconsciously indebted to you. He’ll protect you.” Nejire’s face was totally serious. She knew what she was talking about.

“I mean, I guess that works.” I shuffled my feet nervously.

“No. I’m not being strapped to your back for hours underwater.” Bakugou sneered.

“Bakugou, you’ll be fine.” Nejire snapped. “Do you not trust Kirishima?”

“Of course I do!” Bakugou glared, very offended at the nymph, his face turning slightly pink once he realized what he had said. “I mean, he’s indebted to me or whatever.”

“Alright then!” Nejire pulled four thick black twisted ropes from the water. “Climb on! And get used to it, this will be going on until Kirishima can fly.”

_ Skip back to underwater. _

“Hold on just a second!” I tried to yell, but the water muffled my voice. Bakugou must have gotten my message though, because he stopped flailing around.

I took a deep breath, which was somehow possible underwater, and started observing our surroundings. Very far left, a stone wall was barely visible. I pointed towards it with my tail, then looked back at Bakugou. He nodded, and I swam towards the stone at full speed. Bakugou gripped my scales and tucked his head into my shoulder as we neared the wall. Just feet away from collision, I turned my head up and the rest of my body followed. I swam straight up faster than I ever had before.

_ Come on…. _ I thought frantically. The surface came into view. I didn’t slow down.

_ 3 _

_ 2 _

_ 1 _

I erupted from the water like lava from a volcano, flying straight up in the air with Bakugou on my back.

“Level out!” Bakugou yelled.

“Got it!” I yelled back. I angled my wings forward, which pushed my body so I was now flying flat over the lake, my stomach parallel to the water’s surface.

I was flying. I was flying! 

“I’m flying!!!” I spread my wings to their full length and flapped them just a little bit. My tail was like the fin under a boat, moving to keep me on track. The week of water and stress and pain had been worth it.

“Yes!” Mirio floated above my right wing and gave me a big thumbs up. Tamaki smiled from my left wing. Nejire clapped and cheered from the water below.

Bakugou hugged my neck tightly and laughed triumphantly. “Way to go, Shitty Scales!” He yelled into the wind.

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the cold wind rushing over my back and wings. Now to land. Opening my eyes again, I turned right towards the bank and extended my hind legs towards the ground. I held my breath. I knew this would be the hardest part.

Just a few inches above the ground. I lifted my wings as high as they could go, the tips nearly touching each other above my back. My hind claws dug into the dirt, my forelegs thudding down close in front. I stumbled a little, but for the most part the landing was flawless. I roared in excitement and pushed my wings into a deep downstroke as I trotted in a little circle. Bakugou laughed and petted my head.

Engulfed in euphoria, I did nothing but grin bigger. I was truly a dragon now.


	13. Chapter 13

**Bakugou**

It was a few days after Kirishima had mastered flight, and he was off doing something in the forest while I hung around the waterfall pool. It was weird not having him with me all the time, I had just gotten used to having the pesky lizard at my heel twenty four-seven.

I sat on a hidden ledge behind the waterfall, watching birds and other creatures dip in the pool and take off before they were spotted by predators. The waterfall hid the creatures’ view of me, but left my view of them full. One thing I loved about that was that I could creature-watch without worrying that I would scare the animals. I might not seem like it, but I do enjoy a calm environment sometimes.

The ledge of the waterfall was mostly gray like the cliff, but flecks of transparent gems stuck out and reflected light. With the waterfall sprayed right next to it, the gems sometimes shone little rainbows over the ledge. I was looking at some of the light refractions when I heard a splash in the waterfall pool, bigger than any bird.

I whipped my head around to see what had made the splash and could hardly keep my gasp quiet. A man stood up to the middle of his torso in the pool, but he wasn’t just any man. This man had red diamonds on his back and neck and arms and face. He had red spiky hair that stuck up like horns in the front. He was obviously very strong, judging from his muscular form, but his smile was the softest I had ever seen. His beautiful smile made my heart melt. I had to talk to this guy before he left.

I took a deep breath and pulled off my cape and boots to set them on the ledge. I slid down the stone into the pool as silently as I could, but I still made a little noise. The man turned his head towards me, a slightly confused and frightened look spreading across his face.

“Um…” He stepped back a little and looked around like he was trying to escape.

“Don’t be scared.” I said softly. “I just wanted to talk. It’s not everyday I see a handsome man in the waterfall pool.”

The man laughed and blushed a little. “Okay then, we’ll play that game.”

I cocked my head in confusion and he waved his hand. “Oh I get it. Fine. What do you want to talk about,  _ mysterious stranger _ ?” He put extra emphasis on the last two words, which made me laugh.

“I could call you the same thing. Your… scales? Is that what they are? Are very beautiful. Just like the rest of you.” I waded over to him and leaned on the wall of the pool next to him.

“Quite a flirt, eh?” The man raised his eyebrow and grinned at me mockingly.

“Well if it makes these meetings regular….” I looked into his eyes. They were the same shade of red as the scales on his cheeks.

The stranger laughed. I put my hand over his. “I’m serious, you know.”

“Oh I know.” He smiled. “Sure, Bakugou. I’ll go out with you.”

“Really?” I smiled back, not even pausing for a second to think about how he knew my name.

“Sure, why not?” The man shook his head, his smile never fading.

“Can I ask your name?” I asked.

“We’re going this far?” The man laughed again.

“Um, you keep laughing.” I started cautiously. “What’s so funny?”

“Hah! Good one.”

I just stared at the man for a while. He eventually looked up at me with a confused look on his face. “You’re serious?”

I nodded.

“Oh.” The man’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Oh?” I asked. I was starting to get annoyed.

“Well, I didn’t think you were being serious before. How about we talk a little before I tell you? Until then call me… Eiji.”

“Alright then Eiji.” I shrugged. Whatever this guy’s awkwardness was about, we could worry about it later. “I’m Katsuki Bakugou.”

“Beautiful name.” Eiji grinned at me. “Well, what do you want to talk about?”

“What brings you to the waterfall pool?” I spat out the first question on my mind. “I usually just see birds and deer here.”

“A friend told me that it was a good place to cool off.” Eiji lifted his arms out of the water and rested one behind him on the wall. A few water droplets of water sparkled in the air.

“When do they come? I’ve never heard of or seen another human here aside from me and you.” I was growing more confused by the second.

“Um, I guess he comes when you’re not around.” Eiji shrugged.

“Oh.” I thought for a second. “Why do you have scales?”

“You really don’t know, do you?” Eiji stared into my eyes like he was looking for a different person.

“How would I?” I snapped. I was done being confused. No matter how beautiful this guy was, he wasn’t making any sense.”

“Fine.” Eiji shook his head. “Ready for my name?”

I nodded.

“It’s Kirishima Eijirou.” He let out a long sigh. “Nice to meet you, I guess?”


	14. Chapter 14

**Kirishima**

“Nice to meet you, I guess?” I spoke those six words full of regret. When I had shifted into my human form and went into the pool, I had no idea Bakugou was sitting behind the waterfall. When he approached me, I was sure he had seen me transform and knew who I was. But nope, he had come to me as a stranger and flirted with me. Of course I wanted to go out with him -I was much more confident in my human form for some reason- but he didn’t know that we already lived together as friends. He didn’t know who I was. So I had to tell him.

“What?” Bakugou just blinked. “Do you mind repeating your name?”

“Kirishima Eijirou.” I said again.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the Kirishima that’s also a dragon, would you?” Bakugou seemed very calm for just having learned that I was a human as well.

“Yeah, that’s me.” I nodded awkwardly.

“Oh my gosh.” Bakugou pressed his palms together. “Sorry, I guess? No I’m not. Goddamnit Shitty Scales, why wouldn’t you tell me this?”

I laughed a little. “Well, now you know.”

“Yeah….” Bakugou stared at my face for a few seconds, but broke his stare when I waved a hand in front of his face. “What.” He snapped, pulling himself out of the pool.

“Where are you going?” I blurted anxiously.

“Somewhere to think.” Bakugou seemed distracted.

“Alone?” I asked softly, I didn't want to leave Bakugou alone right now, I was very anxious to see what he thought about the situation.

“You can come.” Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“If that’s okay.” I climbed out next to Bakugou. In my human form, I was just a little bit shorter than him.

“Oh, you’re shorter than me. Okay.” Bakugou seemed disgruntled by this for some reason.

“Is there something wrong with that?” I crossed my arms, suddenly defensive.

“No, of course n-” Bakugou’s gaze lowered and immediately snapped back up to my eyes. His face was bright red. “You’re naked.”

“Oh my gosh I’m sorry! I forgot that when I transform I don’t have clothes.” I instantly shifted into my dragon form.

“Cool.” Bakugou stared at me in awe, his face still flushed.

“Um, you got any extra pants?” I curled my tail nervously around my leg.

“Yeah, I do. I’ll show you back to my- wait, you’re Kirishima. You know where the cave is.” Bakugou facepalmed. “Sorry, still getting used to it.”

“It’s fine.” I said.

We walked in awkward silence back to the cave, where Bakugou pulled out an outfit from his storage room.

“It’s just jeans and a vest but it’ll do.” He said as he handed them to me. I grabbed them in my mouth (still in my dragon form) and took them to Bakugou’s and my bedroom to change.

“When you’re done I’ll be in that tree with the stars on its leaves.” Bakugou called through the door.

“Okay.” I yelled back. The stars in its leaves… he meant the tree with obsidian bark that I had loved so much the first time I saw it.

After I shifted into human form, I quickly pulled on the denim vest and jeans, buckling the belt while I looked in the mirror.

“Not too bad.” I smiled. It was my first time wearing clothes in years. It sounds strange, but it was also my first time being human in years. I had grown quite a bit since the last time I was human. I was stronger, I actually had abs, and I had the hair the same color as my scales. The last time I was human was before I started molting (shedding my scales every winter as they changed color) so my hair was black -like my scales had been- and flat. Now it was bright red and stuck up without me having to style it.

I took a deep breath and walked out of Bakugou’s cave to meet him in the tree. The sky was on fire with the colors of the sunset, all shades of red and gold and orange that slowly melted into black far above my head in the sky above the sky that I would never touch. I walked with my hands in my pockets through the forest, hardly making any noise by crunching leaves or breaking twigs. It felt weird to be human, but it also felt nice. It felt different in a good way.

I stopped walking at the base of the tree and peered up into the branches to try and spot Bakugou. A jet black acorn came falling down and hit me in the forehead.

“Ouch!” I rubbed my head and looked down at the seed, which had split on the tree’s roots and splattered silver liquid all over it. I looked back up. “Bakugou!” I complained.

“C’mon up, Shitty Hair.” Bakugou sounded back to his usual self.

“Still with the nickname?” I sighed loudly and looked for a foothold on the tree.

“Your hair  _ is  _ pretty shitty.” Bakugou smirked down at me.

“It’s not that different from yours!” I grabbed a tree branch and pulled myself up, reaching for more branches and quickly making my way up the tree. I pulled myself up one last thick branch and found myself sitting next to Bakugou, who laid on his back on the branch.

“Hey.” He sat up and stretched his arms above his head. “Took you long enough. 

“Shut up.” I scowled mockingly. “I did pretty good climbing a tree for the first time in ten years.”

“It’s been that long?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow.

“Since I was human, yeah.” I nodded sadly. “I missed it.”

“Why’d you stop shifting? Wouldn’t it have saved you from ten years of running away from people?” Bakugou asked.

“I have the same scales as a human.” I pointed at the back of my hand to remind him. “They’d only be worth more on a human that can be easily reproduced and… well, you can figure out what they’d do.” I laughed dryly.

“You talking from experience Shitty Hair?” Bakugou’s voice softened.

“Fortunately not.” I rubbed the nape of my neck. “Wanna talk about something else?”

Bakugou shrugged and I thought about something to say.

“You know how grateful I am to you, right?” I turned my blushing face away from Bakugou as I said this.

“Why?” Bakugou seemed genuinely confused. “All I’ve done is take you away from your complete freedom.”

“You really think that?” I laughed. “You saved me, Bakugou. I’ll never be able to repay you for that. You made my life so much easier when you rescued me from those elves, whatever inspired you to do it. What you did was far from taking away my freedom, you gave me limitless freedom. You taught me how to fly, you gave me a place to stay, and you gave me my very first friend. You’re probably the best thing to ever happen to me, take that how you will.”

“Actually, I have something to tell you.” Bakugou fiddled with his hands. He looked nervous, and Bakugou was never nervous. He took a deep breath. “I was hired by King Endeavor to deliver you to his castle so he could skin you alive and use your scales for armor.”

“What?” I suddenly became very tense. “So you’re just another enemy then.” I looked down sadly. Even Bakugou was out to kill me. I had trusted him because he had rescued me, but that was my mistake. I didn’t care anymore, if staying with Bakugou meant death, death it would be.

“No.” Bakugou put his hand on my leg. “I decided not to.”

“Seriously? Why??” I grinned massively and grabbed Bakugou’s hands in my own.

“Because you deserve to live.” Bakugou said softly.

My heart fluttered.

“Me? What has a helpless creature like me done to deserve to live in your eyes?” I asked, but I didn’t dare laugh because Bakugou’s face was stone serious.

“You changed my life the moment you became a part of it.” Bakugou said. “I walked into that arena and instantly something about me changed. I saw you and I knew that I wouldn’t be getting away from you any time soon. Your claws were stained in blood, did you know that? But it didn’t deter me. Your hands are just as bloodstained as mine.”

I looked down at my hands. I had only killed fish and small animals to eat before that griffin. She was the first animal I had killed in order to survive, and clearly Bakugou had killed many more. Knowing this didn’t change anything though, I was just learning more about Bakugou. If this was part of him, I loved it, and I knew he would never kill without reason. I loved all of him and I knew I always would.

“You changed my life, Shitty Hair. You know that? You have no idea what I was like before I met you. You practically turned me into a whole different person, and I can’t ever thank you enough. It’s easy to talk to you, too. I’ve never been this open with anyone, talking about my feelings and shit. Damn, I really am a whole different person.” Bakugou laughed.

“I thought you were like this to everyone.” I said quietly. “Don’t give me special treatment.”

“I didn’t mean to, damnit!” Bakugou yelled, his face red.

“Okay, okay.” I laughed and gently pushed Bakugou, though not hard enough to push him off of the tree.

“I don’t know, just… don’t get used to it. I’m sure I’ll come around soon enough.” Bakugou sighed and laid back down on the thick tree branch.

“Alright, let’s just enjoy the night then.” I smiled and looked up at the sky, closing my eyes when a breeze brushed over my face.


	15. Chapter 15

**Bakugou**

I sighed. Kirishima really had turned me into a different person, I was never open with anyone like this. My feelings weren’t anyone’s business, but for some reason my mind had convinced me that I needed to share them with Kirishima.

Seeing him as human really changed things. He wasn’t just some dragon now, he was a person. I had flirted with him… I guess we were just ignoring that.

Wait- he had said he wanted to go out with me. Was he serious? Did I even want to, now that I knew that he was the dragon I had saved? I shook my head. I would cross that bridge when I got to it. For now I could just enjoy my night with Kirishima.

I sat up and looked over to see his head tilted up to the sky. I smiled, he really was cute. Kirishima looked like a human puppy, with his soft hands gripping the tree branch on either side of him, his spiky hair swishing in the wind, his crystal red eyes closed peacefully, and a slight smile on his face.

I found myself leaning closer to Kirishima without knowing quite why. I closed my eyes and felt my nose brush his cheek, but I didn’t snap back. I felt Kirishima turn his head towards me. I opened my eyes and stared straight into his.

The skin around the scales on Kirishima’s cheeks was flushed red, and I’m sure I was blushing as well. We were nose to nose, his back against the trunk of the tree and my hands on either side of his waist, our lips almost touching.

“You’re beautiful, Eijirou.” I whispered. Kirishima blushed even deeper.

I closed my eyes again and began to close the gap between us…

“OI KATSUKI!” A voice I knew shouted from the ground. Both Kirishima and I startled and I nearly fell out of the tree trying to scramble away from him.

“THE FUCK YOU WANT, MINA?” I yelled back to the woman on the ground, my head in my hands and my face burning.

“YOU HAVE A TATTOO APPOINTMENT TONIGHT YOU ELUSIVE BITCH. I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU ALL DAY. DON’T FORGET YOU LOST THE BET!” Mina shouted back up.

I groaned and turned my head to Kirishima, whose whole face was redder than his hair. “I lost a bet and my friend is making me get a tattoo on my shoulder. We better get down there before she climbs up here and does it.”

“O-oh.” Kirishima shook his head and his blush faded. He stood up on the branch and spread his arms like wings. Scaly red wings flickered into view on his back, and Kirishima dove off of the tree, his wings flapping to keep him from falling.

“Lucky bastard.” I chuckled and climbed down the old fashioned way. When I made it to the ground Kirishima and Mina were talking about what tattoo I should get.

“What about a dick?” Mina snorted.

“Don’t be cruel, do a hand holding up a middle finger or something.” I shoved her.

“I was going to say a flower.” Kirishima pulled at his spiky hair.

“Are you kidding?! That’s the most cruel of them all!” Kirishima and I laughed.

“Damn Bakugou, who  _ is _ this guy?” Mina whistled. “You’re not cursing at him and pushing him every four seconds.”

“My name’s Kirishima Eijirou.” Kirishima smiled at Mina.

“Aww, cute smile. I’m Ashido Mina.” Mina smiled back.

Kirishima held out a hand to shake hers, but Mina pushed it aside and opened her arms. “I prefer hugs.”

Kirishima dove into her arms and wrapped his around her. Mina laughed. “You’re a much better hugger than Bakuhoe here!”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah yeah, come on Mina. Let’s get this tattoo over with.”

“Alrighty.” Mina rubbed her hands together. “But seriously, you need to decide what you want.”

“You and Eijirou talk while I think about it.” I waved her off.

“Eijirou?” Kirishima’s hand gently brushed against mine.

“Yeah.” I smiled a little.

A huge grin broke out on Eijirou’s face. “Alright then, Katsuki!” He smiled at me and fell back to talk with Mina.

Ugh, damn Mina and Hanta. Thanks to them, I had to get something tattooed on my shoulder, I was just glad  _ they _ didn’t get to choose.

What should I get…. Maybe something to do with Eijirou? So I would remember him if he ever left me. A dragon would be too obvious, so would an E for Eijirou…. Should I do a K? That way I could pass it off as Katsuki when in reality it stood for Kirishima. Yeah, that’s what I would get.

I slowed down to let Mina and Eijirou catch up. Eijirou was poking Mina’s horns while Mina laughed.

“Oi, Alien Bitch.” I said to get her attention.

“Yes, my little pomeranian?” Mina blinked her black-sclerad eyes at me innocently.  **(A/N: sclera are the white part of your eyes, or in Mina’s case, the black part)**

I ignored her, “Give me the letter K.”

“Sorry bro, I don’t have one.” Mina searched her pockets.

“I mean as the tattoo you dumb bitch!” I yelled at her.

“Ohh. You should have been more specific.” Mina shook her head. “Why a K?”

“Guess.” I smirked.

“Hmm…. Kirishima?” Mina guessed. Eijirou blushed brighter than I had ever seen anyone blush.

“N-no, idiot.” I grumbled.

“It’s Kirishima isn’t it?” Ashido whispered in my ear.

“NO!” I punched her in the arm. Hard.

“Owww.” Mina rubbed her arm. “It’s your fault if your tattoo’s shaky.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re almost there, heal quickly.”

Kirishima clung close to my elbow, still blushing a little. I waved to Shoji and he waved back with three of his arms. Kirishima smiled at him in wonder.

Mina took the lead and motioned for us to follow her past three main shops and into her tattoo parlor. “Okay, this way Blasty.” She dragged me by the arm into a sanitized room, where I was then thrown into a chair.  **(A/N: I researched tattoos quite a bit for this so this scene should be pretty accurate)**

“Careful.” I sat up and glared at Mina.

“Why, are you fragile?” Mina looked at me mockingly over her shoulder.

I glared harder.

Mina snapped on gloves and prepared a jar of black ink for the needle gun. She sat on a stool near my shoulder, “Hold still and don’t scream or it’ll turn out all wonky.”

Kirishima ran into the room and did a double take. “Wait for me at least!”

“We’re not starting yet, don’t worry.” Mina chuckled and laid a piece of tattoo contact paper with a big blue K on my skin, smoothing the paper down and transferring the letter as a guide for the tattoo. “You can sit there.” She said to Eijirou, pointing to a stool by my other shoulder and continuing the tattoo prep. She rubbed my shoulder with an alcohol pad to prepare my skin. 

Eijirou sat down, nervously picking at his pointy nails.

“Why are you nervous? I’m the one getting the damn thing.” I laughed.

“Second hand nerves I guess.” He chuckled.

I reached out my hand and placed it gently on his to keep him from ripping his fingernails off. Eijirou startled at my touch, but quickly relaxed, all the tension and nervousness flowing out of his body.

“Ready?” Mina held the gun slightly above my skin.

“Yep.” I said, but she wasn’t looking at me, she looked to Kirishima for his answer.

“Yeah, go ahead.” Kirishima squeezed my hand and smiled.

_ ~time skip to after the tattoo~ _

“It’ll be sore for a little while, but you can go to Ochako and Hagakure and have them relieve the soreness.” Ashido wiped excess ink off of my arm.

“Um,” Eijirou raised his hand. “I wouldn’t mind getting one too.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “After you were that nervous for me? Can’t wait to see how panicked you get when the needles get within an inch of you.”

Eijirou looked offended. “I was nervous for you, but getting it on myself is different. Besides, tattoos are manly!”

Mina high fived him. “Great job bud, Katsuki move your ass so Kiri can lay down.”

I groaned and sat up, switching places with Eijirou.

“What do you want?” Mina loaded the tattoo gun again and put on fresh gloves.

“Hmm…. Some letter like Katsu got, but I don’t know which one.” Eijirou thought for a second.

“You like manly things right?” Mina asked him. “How about V for valor?”

“Ooh! Kirishima shifted around in the seat with excitement.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Ashido clapped her hands.

_ ~time skip to after Kiri’s tattoo~ _

“Stop messing with it.” I sighed to Eijirou. He was poking the sore spots of his tattoo and grinning down at it every three seconds.

“Sorry, it’s just so cool and manly!” Eijirou laughed. We were walking to Uraraka and Hagakure’s shop to visit and get them to ease the lingering pain of the tattoos.

I knocked on the witches’ door, then turned my head to see Eijirou messing with the tattoo again.

“Stop! It’ll get infected!” I reached for his right hand (his fresh tattoo was on his left shoulder where I stood) and pulled it towards me. This took Eijirou by surprise and he lost his balance, stumbling forward and pushing me to the ground. I didn’t let go of his hand when I fell, causing Eijirou to fall with me, laying on top of me with his head buried in my neck and our legs tangled together.

I couldn’t move. My face burned and my heart pounded. I heard the door to the shop open, and a witch with short brown hair that framed her face stepped out. She was wearing a long, dark dress and planet earrings.

Uraraka clasped her hands together, “Hello, loverboys!”


	16. Chapter 16

**Kirishima**

I instantly jumped off of Katsuki as fast as I could and scrambled to my feet. “Nope!” I said, wincing at my giant voice crack.

The witch laughed and pressed her fingers to her lips. “Not yet? Just a few more months then.”

“What?” I cocked my head.

“Just wait and see.” She winked and grabbed me by the arm.

The witch dragged me into her shop and pulled me into a dark room with fireflies glowing red along the ceiling.

“Toru! Get Kastuki and bring him in here!” she yelled through the door before she slammed it. “He’s laying on the ground outside!”

“Sure Uraraka!” A few dozen awkward seconds later, a ghostly white dress floated into the room with Bakugou struggling out of its grip, being held bridal style.

“You better not have done anything to Eijirou.” Katsuki glared at Uraraka.

Uraraka clutched her chest dramatically. “You wound me! I would never hurt your… uh what are you?” She stopped and scratched her head.

“Friends.” Katsuki said angrily.

Uraraka burst out laughing. “Pfff, yeah okay.”

“What are you laughing at, space hoe?” Katsuki growled.

“Nothing, nothing.” Uraraka waved her hand at Katsuki dismissively while I sighed, embarrassed by his vulgar behavior.

Katsuki sighed and rolled his eyes, then glared in Uraraka’s direction. “Tattoo soreness. Get rid of it.”

“Oh you finally got a tattoo?” Uraraka rolled up her sleeves, revealing glowing golden constellations sparkling across her arms. “I got mine when I was nineteen.”

“How old even are you?” Katsuki kicked his feet up onto the table.

“Twenty three, same as you.” Uraraka shoved Katsuki’s feet off of the table with lots of force, almost pushing him out of his chair.

“How old are you, Shitty Hair?” Katsuki switched his gaze to me, and I was surprised to see his glare change to a soft stare.

“I’m twenty three too.” I smiled. “My birthday’s coming up soon.”

“When is it?” Bakugou raised an eyebrow.

“October sixteenth.” Uraraka chimed in, looking up from her crystal ball. “Sorry, I was looking for Tsu and the question slipped in.”

“Who’s Tsu?” I asked.

“She’s the third witch here, but she’s holed up somewhere looking at what different herb combinations do. She’s a healer, and she’s been at it for weeks.” Uraraka said. “She’ll be the best one to go to if you want the soreness gone immediately.”

“Cool, where is she.” Bakugou stood up and slammed his hands down on the table.

“Go into the storage closet and climb up the ladder to the alcove, then climb down the ladder on the other side of it and go through the trapdoor into the hidden basement. She’s in there.” Uraraka made gestures with her hands while she explained.

I blinked in confusion, but Bakugou nodded firmly. “Follow me, Shitty Hair.”

Bakugou stood up and walked out of the room with me close behind. He opened a door with black runes carved into it in no particular pattern or order. 

The door led to a long and narrow room with shelves stacked with dried herbs and vials and sticks and glasses filled with feathers and fur. The shelves took up the space of both of the walls on the left and right of us as we walked past them to the ladder at the end of the room. Bakugou climbed up the ladder first and pulled himself into the nook in the wall that was tall enough for a person to stand in and wide enough for them to lay down comfortably.

“You coming?” He called down to me.

“Yeah!” I yelled back up, tearing my gaze off of a tiny tornado in a jar.

I climbed up the ladder rung by rung, finally reaching the top much slower than Bakugou had. Bakugou reached his hand down to me and pulled me up into the alcove. He pulled me a bit too hard, and I ended up on top of him with my hands on either side of his head and my legs straddling his waist. My face was just inches above his.

Bakugou smiled up at my blushing face. “What’s wrong, Ei? You always get flustered so easily.”

I didn’t move. My heart pounded. This is when I was going to do it. I was going to kiss Katsuki Bakugou.

“You can get off now.” Bakugou raised an eyebrow at me.

I shook my head silently, bringing a slight pinkness to Bakugou’s cheeks. I sat on Bakugou’s lap so that I would be facing him when he sat up. Then I pulled him up slowly into a sitting position and wrapped my arms around his neck. Bakugou’s face was nearly on fire now, and mine was the same. I looked up at him and stared into his eyes, blinking at him through my lashes. Bakugou smiled. He put his hand in my hair on the back of my head, and I leaned into his touch with my eyes closed. I looked back at Bakugou to find his face much closer than it had been just seconds before. I pinpointed Bakugou’s lips and closed my eyes.

“Uh.. can I get through?” A raspy voice said from behind Bakugou. 

Bakugou pushed me away, stood up, and punched the stone wall so hard it cracked. “GOD FUCKING DAMNIT NOT AGAIN.”

A woman with her hands flopped over her wrists and her long tongue sticking out took a step back. Her green hair was tied into a bow behind her back. “What?”

“You damn witches keep interrupting. Can’t you fucking see that something’s happening here and just mind your own damn business?” Bakugou growled. His voice was dangerously calm, and the witch, who I assumed was Tsu, looked petrified.

“I just need to get through…” Tsu pointed to the ladder on the other side of the alcove.

“I’ll throw you down the ladder if you’d like to get there  _ faster _ .” Bakugou smiled.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Tsu went back down the ladder and through the trapdoor into her basement.

We waited a few minutes, and when Tsu didn’t come back up, Bakugou stormed down the ladder and slammed the door to the room open. I followed him, not as angry but definitely embarrassed.

“URARAKA!” He yelled.

“What, you angry fucker.” Uraraka floated into the room with an exasperated look on her face.

“You and Tsu need a lesson on how to keep your nose out of where it doesn’t belong, and throw Mina in the class too.” Bakugou snapped, walking into the main room of the witch’s shop.

“Oh dear.” A very fashionable blonde man drinking tea looked up when Bakugou stomped in. “Would you like me to teach this class?”

“Fucking whatever Aoyama, what are you doing here?” Bakugou pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, Miss Mina told me that Kirishima’s outfit needed a bit of...” Aoyama looked me up and down. “an upgrade.”

I laughed, forgetting the situation we were in. Bakugou glanced at me when I laughed, sighed deeply, and pointed at Uraraka.

“Stay out of everything you fucking see. That goes for Tsu too.” Then he turned to Aoyama. “Fine, do your magic.”

Aoyama smiled and stood up, leaving his tea on the table. “Follow me, darlings.”

Aoyama took me by the wrist and pulled me out of the shop, leaving Uraraka stunned in our wake.

Aoyama’s shop was heavily decorated with bright colors and bold patterns, but not so much that it looked ugly. He had mannequins standing on circular platforms around the shop, each one displaying a beautiful outfit made by Aoyama himself.

“Alright dear, you need some color other than your hair and scales.” Aoyama walked around the shop pulling various items off of racks and shelves. When he made his way back to me, he held a bandana, a thick leather glove for my left hand, gray boots with metal over the front, rim, toes, and heels, and two triangular knives still in their sheaths. “Put these on.” He said, handing me the clothes and keeping the knives.

I tied the red tiger-striped bandana around my neck, pulled my hair out of the way, and pulled on the boots and glove. Aoyama clapped. “Beautiful!”

I grinned at him, then turned to Bakugou, who was pinching his nose.

“Need a tissue for your nosebleed?” Aoyama handed Bakugou a box of tissues, which Bakugou took without a word. I blushed deep red.

“Now, your lower half is a bit drab… if only I had the same material as Bakugou’s cape, you could fasten it around your waist.” Aoyama pressed his finger to his lips and scanned his wall of fabric.

I heard a loud ripping noise and turned around. Bakugou had ripped about three feet of material off of his cape. “This enough?”

Aoyama looked pale. “I could have just cut it….”

Bakugou shrugged and handed the fabric to Aoyama, who tied it around my waist, marked where the knot was, and sat down at a sewing machine to attach a button or some other fastener.

I turned to Bakugou while Aoyama worked. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I did it for the sake of you looking fashionable.” Bakugou chuckled.

I laughed and looked back over to Aoyama, who was sewing the knives’ sheaths into the inside of the skirt.

“All done!” Aoyama sung. He walked over to me, showed me how to fasten the skirt and put the knives in their sheaths so that they were hidden but wouldn’t stab my hips off, and then he placed a hand on Bakugou’s shoulder. “The price of a third of your cape is enough payment for me. This one’s free.”

“Thanks Aoyama!” I smiled.

“Yeah, thanks.” Bakugou smiled the tiniest bit.

“Of course, darlings. What adventure lies ahead?” Aoyama smiled.

“We storm King Endeavor’s castle.” Bakugou grinned, fire in his eyes. “And make him pay for wanting to hurt Eijirou.”

I grinned and high-fived Bakugou. Aoyama passed out.


	17. Chapter 17

**Kirishima**

After we took Aoyama to the witches to be resurrected and I firmly apologized to Tsu for Bakugou, she healed our tattoos and we headed out of the village to King Endeavor’s castle.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked Bakugou. We were stalking through the forest towards the castle, making as little sound as we could so that we wouldn’t alert any guards, even though we hadn’t seen any so far.

“We should get as close to the entrance as we can, knock out the guards, and get to the throne room. Then we can make that fucker pay.” Bakugou cracked his knuckles.

“Hell yeah.” I smirked. I drew my blades as we got closer to the castle, the entrance now in view.

“There’s no guards.” Bakugou whispered. “They must be switching shifts.”

“Lucky us.” I said, leading the way to the entrance to the castle.

We cautiously slid the heavy door open, slipped through, and shut the door behind us. There were no guards or staff in the hallway to the throne room either, which seemed pretty suspicious.

“What’s going on? Where is everyone?” I asked quietly.

“They might all be in the throne room.” Bakugou said, pointing with his sword to the golden door. “I hear voices.”

Bakugou and I stood on either side of the throne room door, backs pressed against the wall. Bakugou held up three fingers and I nodded. On the count of three, we would barge in.

_ Two _ . Bakugou’s fingers changed and I readied myself.

_ One _ .

Bakugou threw the door open and charged beside me into the throne room. “King Endeavor, hands u-” Bakugou stopped and let his sword arm fall.

The king stood in the center of the throne room with his hands in handcuffs. His crown had been knocked off and rested at his feet, and four mage guards stood with their wands pointed at his throat.

“What’s going on here?” I asked.

“My father has been arrested.” The voice of a young man said from behind the king. A man about our age stepped into view. His hair was split half red, half white, and he wore the clothes of a prince. A bandage was wrapped around his left eye.

“Why?” Bakugou snapped. “What the hell happened? Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Shouto. I’m Endeavor- well his true name is Enji-’s son. I was kept hidden away for twenty three years of my life to be trained to become the next tyrant king. I refused to become the terrible person that he is now, and my father didn’t like that. He used forbidden black magic to burn my face.” The prince said.

“Damn.” I whistled.

“Hold on, so you’re the king now?” Bakugou demanded.

“I suppose so.” Shouto shrugged.

“And will you follow your father and take this young dragon’s stone-hardened scales to use as armor?” He said, excitement rising in his voice as he already knew the answer.

“No, of course not.” Shouto nodded in my direction. “You’re free to go.”

Thunder cracked outside and rain suddenly broke from the sky.

“You both may stay here until the rain passes if you’d like.” Shouto added.

“I’m free?” I clarified.

Shouto nodded once more. I turned to Bakugou, grabbing his hands. “I’m free!”

What happened next seemed to go in slow motion.

I hugged Bakugou and pulled back, excitement filling me to the brim. A massive grin shone on Bakugou’s face, and my heart swelled. I just couldn’t take it. Bakugou’s fierce eyes and kind smile meant only for me burned themselves into my mind. I never forgot what his face looked like just seconds before I kissed him.

I leaned- well more like lunged- towards Bakugou, tackling him to the ground and planting my hands on either side of his head. I scrunched my eyes closed because I was scared to see his expression.

I felt my lips press against his, and Bakugou’s whole body went rigid. I pulled back and opened my eyes, looking into Bakugou’s. He just stared back at me, a shocked look on his face.

_ Oh. He didn’t like it.  _ My brain threw all logic aside. I forgot about all of the times we had nearly kissed and just knew now. Just knew that I had kissed him and he hadn’t kissed me back.

I stumbled up, my vision distorting. I had just ruined a perfectly fine friendship with my feelings. The room twisted around, every noise sounded like it was underwater. Bakugou’s mouth was moving, his hand was reaching for me… 

_ He must be trying to push me away.  _ My brain thought in dismay.

I didn’t even realize it, but I shifted into dragon form. I stumbled out of the castle as fast as I could into the pouring rain.

Before I was fully in the rain, I heard one last word call after me. “Eijirou!”

I turned my head back. Bakugou stood in the doorway of the castle. I couldn’t face him right now.

I flapped my wings and rose into the air, flying all over the place like a bird with a broken wing.

I’m not sure how long I was flying, but after what felt like hours, I just gave up. I let my wings drop and fell out of the sky.

I heard a sharp ringing in my ears. The last thing I felt was branches breaking from my weight as I fell into the forest. The last thing I saw was a bright flash of lightning.

And everything went black.


	18. Chapter 18

**Bakugou**

I ran after Eijirou, trying to keep him in my sight as I ran through the trees after him. Mud splattered my legs and branches whipped my face, but I didn’t slow down. “Eijirou!” I screamed.

_ Eijirou tackled me with a hug, knocking me onto the ground. I grinned up at him. He was finally released from the fear of being captured by Endeavor! We were now free to do whatever we wanted. Together. Eijirou closed his eyes. My heart raced. I knew what was going on. I didn’t move, letting Eijirou press his lips to mine. My breath was sucked right out of my body. Eijirou’s kiss was so soft, so sweet, and full of love. I couldn’t help but stare at him when he pulled away. _

_ That was the wrong thing to do. Eijirou took it the wrong way and must have thought that I was gaping at him because I hadn’t wanted to kiss him, but that was far from the truth. I was just so shocked and happy that we finally  _ had _ kissed. _

_ “Hey, where are you going?” I reached out to grab Eijirou’s arm when he started walking away. He just walked faster. _

_ “Eijirou, stay here!” I begged. He shifted into his dragon form. _

_ “Stop! Come back!” Panic overrid my brain. “I love you!” _

_ But Eijirou didn’t stop. He didn’t seem to hear anything. _

_ And as I shouted his name one last time, the man I loved flew into the sky and over the thick tree canopy. _

It had been nearly two hours. Tears streamed down my face. My body ached from running, searching, desperately trying to find any trace of Eijirou. My throat was ripped raw from screaming his name into the rain. I tripped over a root and fell on the ground, mud caking my whole front. I stood up and looked back at the root.

It wasn’t a root, but a tail. A mud-covered tail connecting to a mud-covered dragon. Eijirou.

I laughed in scared relief. “I found you!” I ran over to his head and lifted it to look into Eijirou’s eyes. He was unconscious.

“No no no no.” I frantically looked around for anything that could help me carry him back to my cave. I found nothing, but I remembered something that Eijirou had told me.

I stroked the bridge of his nose with my fingers until Eijirou’s body began to glow. He shrank and slowly but surely shifted into his human form. Then I picked him up bridal style, with his neck resting on one arm and the crook of his legs on my other, and began walking. I didn’t know where I was walking, I just walked.

The rain didn’t show any sign of stopping, and I hoped that my instincts were taking me to my cave.

“Katsuki, is it?” A voice croaked from under a giant mushroom. I looked over and saw Tsu standing under it, a basket of leaves in her hand.

“I need your help.” I rushed over to the healer and laid Eijirou on the ground in front of her.

“What happened here?” Tsu pressed a finger to the corner of her mouth.

“I’m not sure, I found him on the forest floor and he’s too covered in mud for me to see any wounds.” I said.

“Alright, I’ll follow you to your home and try to heal him with what I have here.” Tsu rasped.

“Thank you so much. And I’m… sorry or whatever… about earlier.” I looked away when I apologized.

“No worries, it really wasn’t my business whatever you two were doing.” Tsu winked at me.

I picked up Eijirou again and started back in the direction that I was sure was home.

-/ _ time skip to the cave/- _

I laid Eijirou down on the bed that we had made together from trees in the forest. The rain had washed the mud off of him and I now saw the deep scratches and marks that he bore all over his body. Tsu said that it was likely that his wings had given out and he had fallen through the canopy, receiving scratches from tree branches and from the hard landing.

Tsu crushed up multiple herb combinations and slathered them over Eijirou’s wounds. She stroked the scratches with her fingers, and the herbs began to glow. The leaf pastes shone white and eventually dissolved into nothing, burning away the marks on Kirishima’s body as they did.

“Alright, just let him rest once he wakes up and he should be fine.” Tsu smiled at me and stood up to leave.

“Thanks.” I said, holding Eijirou’s hand.

“No problem.” Tsu pushed the vine curtain out of the way and walked into the rain.

I squeezed Eijirou’s hand, tears threatening my waterline. “You gotta wake up, okay?” I said quietly.

Eijirou remained quiet.

“I didn’t walk through the forest for two hours just for you to die.” I chuckled. “You gotta wake up for me.”

I leaned forwards and kissed Eijirou’s forehead. His eyes blinked open the slightest bit. He mumbled something that I couldn’t understand.

I put my ear close to his mouth. “What?”

“I was… scared... you weren’t coming for me.” Eijirou said slowly, like he didn’t have enough energy to talk.

“Why would you think that?” I squeezed his hand tighter.

“Because… I kissed you….” Eijirou closed his eyes again.

“That’s bullshit.” I smiled down at him.

Eijirou smiled too. “...love you… I know it’s… too early but… I have for a while....”

“I love you too, Eijirou.” The tears in my eyes finally fell. “You’re my ride or die, I ain’t ever letting you go. Remember that.”

Eijirou let out a long breath, a sigh of relief. I laid down in the bed next to him and pulled him close to my chest. Eijirou lifted his head a little and pressed his forehead against mine. My heart raced, like every time this had almost happened before. I knew for sure that nothing was stopping us this time.

I sat up and Eijirou did as well. We faced each other, Eijirou’s arms around my waist and mine wrapped behind his back. I grinned, happiness filling me to the brim. Eijirou smiled sleepily back at me.

I brushed stray hairs off of Eijirou’s forehead and let my hand rest on the back of his head. I stared down at his lips, perfect and soft and so so kissable. I already knew it.

I kissed Eijirou’s forehead first, bringing a smile to those beautiful lips. Then I pressed a kiss to his temple, moving slowly down his cheek and finally touching the corner of his mouth. I hesitated, but not for long. Eijirou pulled me closer and I melted into the kiss. Our bodies were closer than they had ever been. My face was hot and my heart was pounding.

I grabbed Eijirou as tightly as I could in a hug, pulling him as close to me as we could possibly get. His hands moved down slightly from my waist, surprising me a little and making me smile into the kiss. I never wanted to break apart, never wanted to let go. This was pleasure, paradise, and the happiest I had ever been.

I felt Eijirou’s mouth open slightly and I wasted no time slipping my tongue in. He made a little sound of shock, but pulled me closer still, lifting me with his hands under my ass onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around him and let my arms fall over his shoulders and behind his back.

Our kisses turned sloppy, each of us gasping for air every once in a while. We kissed like we would get no other chance to because every time we had tried before, our chances had been taken away.

I began planting soft kisses all over Eijirou’s face, making him smile and lean towards me more, eventually resting his tired head on my chest. I stroked his hair, combing my fingers through the knots and softly pulling out leaves and sticks.

Eijirou yawned and his head slid down my chest and into my lap. I smiled down at him, then moved his head gently onto his pillow and laid down beside him, pulling the thick blanket over us both. I kissed Eijirou one last time on the tip of his nose before he closed his eyes.

“I love you.” I murmured against his mouth, and felt a smile against mine just before I fell asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**Kirishima**

I woke up pressed against Bakugou’s chest in my bed. I froze. What was going on…?

I sat up, pushing Bakugou’s arm off of my body and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Suddenly, the memories hit me like a freight train.

_ -/time skip back to the night before/- _

I was laying in a bed, in human form for some reason. The last thing I remembered was flying above the forest and then falling through the canopy.

A hand was holding mine. The hand was rough and calloused, but it was soft at the same time. It squeezed my hand and a muffled voice started talking. The sound was too distorted for me to make out the words, but I knew it was Katsuki’s voice.

“...gotta wake up for me.” Katsuki’s words slowly came into focus.

I felt a gentle pressure on my forehead and inhaled deeply, realizing that I hadn’t been breathing until then. I opened my eyes a little to see Katsuki lifting his head away from mine. He had kissed my forehead.

“I was scared you weren’t coming for me…” I said quietly.

“What?” Bakugou asked gently, leaning down so that his ear was just over my mouth.

“I was scared you weren’t coming for me.” I said again. It exhausted me to talk louder, and I could hardly get out the words anyway.

“Why would you think that?” Bakugou’s grip on my hand tightened.

Confusion welled up inside of me. He hadn’t kissed back… surely the reason I had flown away was obvious.

“Because I… kissed you.” I let my eyes close again even though I was starting to wake up all the way. I didn’t want to look him in the eyes.

“That’s bullshit.” Bakugou smiled at me. My eyes snapped open again when he said this. A small smile spread across my face as well.

“I love you.” I sighed. “I know it’s too early, but I have for a while….”

“I love you too, Eijirou.” Small tears formed in the corners of Katsuki’s eyes as he stared softly down at me. “You’re my ride or die, I ain’t ever letting you go. Remember that.”

I breathed out a long sigh of relief. He didn’t hate me. In total contrast, he actually loved me back.

Katsuki laid down next to me in the bed, cuddling me close. I smiled, so happy to finally have a chance to sleep close to him. Katsuki shifted and sat up, and I realized what was going on. I instantly blushed, sitting up as well and wrapping my arms around Katsuki’s waist. He had his arms wrapped around my back, pulling our bodies together as soon as he had a hold of me.

I smiled up at Katsuki, excited for what I knew was about to happen, but not in a rush. Katsuki leaned forward and kissed my forehead, my temple, my cheekbone, cheek, and jawline. He eventually touched my mouth, hesitating for a moment before I pulled him closer and closed the space between us.

Our lips met and everything about the environment in the room changed. Bakugou pulled me as close as we could get without breaking my ribs, his nose pressed next to mine and our foreheads bumping together every time we breathed and reconnected.

A bit of mischief snuck into my mind and I slipped my hands down past Katsuki’s waist and grabbed his butt, making him jump a little in surprise and smile into my mouth. I smiled as well, unintentionally opening my mouth.

Katsuki’s tongue entered my mouth as soon as it opened, licking the back of my teeth and the roof of my mouth as well as my own tongue and cheeks. I smiled bigger, flushing bright red. I grabbed Katsuki tighter and pulled him closer, up onto my lap. He wrapped his legs around my body and draped his arms over my shoulder, his hands hanging down and his fingernails slightly scratching my lower back.

We kissed for what must have been ten minutes, our kisses eventually getting rougher and then softer again, both adding a smile before each kiss. Katsuki pulled back and kissed my cheeks and neck, roaming all over my face and making me smile and lean against him until my temple was all he could reach.

Katsuki lifted his hand into my hair, working through tangles and pulling out leaves and other things that had gotten tangled in it when I had fallen. I let myself fall into Katsuki’s lap and be moved onto the bed. Katsuki then laid down next to me and kissed my nose. I smiled and closed my eyes, keeping them closed and clutching close to Katsuki’s chest.

Katsuki pressed his mouth to mine again and whispered “I love you”. And that was the last thing I felt before I slept.

_ ~~time skip back to morning~~ _

I smiled as I recalled the events of the previous night. I looked down at Katsuki cuddled against my hip and reached my hand down to stroke his hair. Katsuki stirred awake and leaned against my shoulder after sitting up.

“Good morning.” I smiled down at him.

“Only ‘cause you’re here.” Katsuki grumbled. I smiled and pulled him into a warm hug. We sat like that for a few minutes until Katsuki yawned and sat up to stretch.

“Hang out with the squad today? We haven’t seen them all week.” He remarked.

“Yes!” I bounced up and down on the bed a little, making Katsuki fall over in his sleepy state. “Oh, sorry Katsu.”

“Calm down.” He chuckled and sat up again on the edge of the bed. I jumped out of bed and got dressed quickly. I started a fire in the big cave and secured a skewer over it with a few fish from a bucket near the fire pit.

After a few minutes of the fish cooking, Katsuki joined me and sleepily ate.

“It’s not as good as yours, but it should taste alright.” I said.

“It’s fine, Shitty Hair.” He replied. “So, I was thinking we would go to Denki’s place first, then meet up with Hanta and Mina in the tavern or something.”

“Sounds great.” I smiled and jumped up, already finished eating.

After Katsuki finished, we headed out hand-in-hand towards the village.

“Are we going to tell them?” I asked, gesturing to put clasped hands with my free one.

“I’m sure they’ll figure it out.” Katsuki sighed.

We waved to Shoji, who’s eyebrows raised at the sight of our hands. He leaned down and whispered something to Tokoyami, who glanced in our direction and smiled at his friend.

“Knowing how fast rumors spread in this village, they’ll probably know before we even get there.” Katsuki said.

When we reached Denki’s house, Katsuki let go of my hand and put his arm around my waist. I leaned into his shoulder as he knocked on the door. It swung open right away, revealing Mina, Hanta, and Denki all crammed in the doorway with massive grins on their faces.

“I knew it!” Mina laughed victoriously. “Jirou owes me fifteen bucks!”

“How long have you been hiding it from us?” Denki asked, a mock-wounded look on his face.

“Uh, last night.” I chuckled and rubbed the back of my neck.

“No way! Surely it’s been longer than that!” Hanta pushed Mina out of the way. 

“Nope.” Katsuki rolled his eyes. “We came here to have some fun with you guys, but if you’re just gonna ask stupid questions about our relationship then we can leave.”

“Nonono stay.” Denki opened the door wider to let us in. “We’ll get you guys drunk tonight and  _ then  _ ask stupid questions about your relationship.”

I laughed, a small smirk flickered into existence on Katsuki’s face.

“Sounds like a plan!” Mina clapped her hands together. “Let’s gooooooo!”

_ -/that night at the tavern/- _

“Aight.” Denki grinned and slammed his cup onto the wooden counter -Denki can’t handle alcohol very well at all. “Now, iz time to asg stupid quezhdons abou you guys’s relationship.”

“Ahahahaha!” Mina giggled hysterically. “Denki, your voice is so slurred!”

“You’re szo slurrrrred.” Denki laughed in return. Everyone laughed, and the bartender handed Denki a glass of water.

“Honestly there’s nothing to really say.” Bakugou shrugged and swirled around the liquid in his cup. “I told you, it all happened last night.”

“There’s  _ gotta  _ be more than that.” Sero groaned. “You’re two of the most exciting people ever, your relationship can’t be boring.”

“I mean, basically last night I kissed him, ran away, hurt myself, and Katsuki found me in the woods and pieced me back together and then boom we are what we are now.” I said without a thought.

“Nothing happened before that?” Mina raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

“There devinidlie iz.” Denki smirked. “Lodza tenzion outside of Ochakakakako’s shop a liddl while agow.”

“You saw that?” Katsuki placed his head in his hands.

“Yup.” Denki started hiccuping.

“What happened?” Mina and Sero stood up and slapped their hands on the bar in unison.

“Not much… Eijirou tripped and fell onto me and I guess we probably blushed a lot or whatever.” Katsuki shrugged.

“Definitely almoz kissed.” Denki nodded knowingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Nooo, Denki. We almost kissed  _ inside _ the shop. Get it right if you’re going to say it.”

“I KNEW IT!” Mina clasped her hands together. “I KNEW STUFF HAPPENED BEFORE LAST NIGHT!”

“Emphasis on almost, dumbass. How many times do we have to say that nothing happened last night?.” Katsuki yanked one of Mina’s horns, making her laugh.

“Well you’ve totally been in love for much longer.” Sero sipped from his thick stone mug and peered over the time at us.

I blushed and glanced at Katsuki, meeting his eyes for a second before we both looked away.

I couldn’t deny it, I fell for Bakugou very early. It was probably because of my dragon senses telling me that he was destined to be my mate, but even without that sense, I know I would have fallen. He was brave and determined, had a strong sense of justice, and despite how he acted to other people, I could tell he cared about me and our small friend group, dubbed the “Bakusquad” by Hanta and Mina.

“They’re not denying it!” Sang Mina, propping her head on her fist and gazing dreamily up at the two of us.

“Why would we want to lie?” Snapped Katsuki.

I blushed even harder and reached for Katsuki’s hand. He grabbed mine tightly under the table.

“Can we please change the subject?” I muttered.

“What are you lovebirds going to do now?” Mina asked.

“An adventure would be fun….” I smiled a little at the thought. “Just exploring the world.”

“We can do that.” Katsuki shrugged. “A nice change of scenery.”

“Would you guys want to come with us?” I kicked Denki under the table.

“Sure!” Mina raised her hands high above her head and grinned.

“I don’t see why not.” Hanta grinned as well.

“Duh.” Denki rolled his eyes. “We’re not letting you two go off by yourself for who knows how long. You might die from Denki Deficiency.”

I laughed and Bakugou stifled a chuckle.

“When do we leave?” Mina asked.

“In two weeks maybe? That gives us enough time to pick what we need to do and prepare.” I suggested.

“Nah, we should just pick a direction and walk.” Katsuki said. “It’d be more fun that way.”

“Alright, then we leave in three days.” Denki decided.

“Fine with me.” Hanta said.

“Me too.” Mina drank the last of her beer. “I’ll close shop for a while.”

“Sounds good.” Katsuki agreed, excitement edging his voice.

“Let’s have an adventure!” I slapped my hand on the table and my friends all cheered.


	20. Chapter 20

**Katsuki**

I sighed and pulled Mina a bit further up on my back. She had gotten tired on our journey and insisted that I carry her instead of Eijirou, who was already in dragon form with Denki and Hanta sleeping over his back.

Eijirou chuckled. “How heavy is she?”

“Heavy.” I groaned.

“Hey, at least you don’t have to carry  _ two  _ of them.” Eijirou gestured to Denki and Hanta with his tail.

“Poor you.” I said. “A big strong dragon carrying two tiny humans.”

“Hey, they weigh a lot!” Eijirou insisted.

“I’m sure they do.” I laughed.

We walked together in silence for a few minutes, staring at the night sky over the desert that we passed through.

“I wonder…” Eijirou started talking, then shook his head. “Never mind. That was a stupid thought.”

“Tell me.” I judged him gently. “I’m sure it’s not stupid.”

“I just wonder if I’d ever be able to fly high enough to touch the stars.” He sighed. “But that’s ridiculous.”

“It’s not ridiculous.” I insisted. “We wouldn’t be human without dreams.”

“I’m not human, Kat.” Eijirou said. “But I know what you mean.”

“You’ll touch the stars one day, I promise.” I laid a hand on his neck.

“It’s just a stupid daydream. Who knows how high up they are.” Eijirou’s wings spread and flapped just a little, as if his body was ready to try and fly among the stars.

“Nothing’s too high for you to reach.” I said softly. “You’re Kirishima Eijirou.”

Eijirou smiled at me. “We’ll see.”

“It’s been fun on this adventure so far.” I said. “You’re a great leader.”

“Kat, we’ve been walking for two weeks straight with no discoveries.” Eijirou shook his head. “Maybe someone else should lead the way.”

“That’s not true.” I rolled my eyes. “We found that big river with the glowing fish, the tree that reverts to a sapling when it gets wet, and the nest of baby chimeras.”

“The chimeras were cute.” Eijirou admitted.

“And this is only the start.” I added. “Who knows what we’ll find next?”

“Hopefully something amazing.” Eijirou turned his gaze from the sky to the empty sands in front of us.

We walked in silence for a little while, simply enjoying each other’s presence with one of my hands resting on Eijirou’s wing.

It was the pure kind of silence, where all you feel is love or adoration for the other person. All you know is that you’re there with them and they aren’t going away anytime soon. Fireflies flitted around us, floating past Eijirou’s nose and hovering above my shoulders.

“Hey, Ei.” I gently cupped a firefly in my hands. “We’re walking in the stars. I told you so.”

Eijirou smiled and waved his left wing towards a cluster of the glowing insects. “I guess you did.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Eijirou**

“FUCKING WAKE UP!” Katsuki shook Mina, who remained on his back. It was morning now, and it was our turn to rest in a cave we had found while Mina, Hanta, and Sero scouted ahead.

The pink-skinned girl just snored and her head lolled deeper against Katsuki’s back. Kat groaned and dropped Mina onto the stone.

“Hey!” She squealed, awake now.

“Took you long enough.” Katsuki walked over to me and curled into my body, tucked close to my chest. We decided that I would stay in human form for the rest of the trip -or at least most of it- to avoid any hunters. Hanta and Denki popped their heads in the cave.

“She’s awake!” Hanta grinned. “C’mon, Alien Queen.”

Mina perked up at the sound of her nickname, bouncing to her feet and jumping off of the cave’s ledge to the canyon’s base just a few beet below.

“EXPLORING TIME!” Mina yelled, her voice carrying through the canyon. Then she, Denki, and Hanta all took off through the mix of mud and sand across the canyon floor.

Katsuki cuddled into my neck, his soft wispy hair brushing against my chin. It wasn’t long before we both fell asleep.

But we awoke a few hours later to piercing screams.

“Eijirou! Katsuki!” the scream reached my ears and made me sit up with a gasp. Mina was calling for us.

I shook Katsuki awake and jumped down to the canyon floor.

“Mina!” I yelled.

“Eijirou, over here!” Mina’s voice came from what seemed like the center of the canyon. I ran as fast as I could to where her voice was coming from, Katsuki right on my heels.

A massive obsidian black dragon with ruby eyes had our friends cornered in a nook in the canyon wall. A shining silver dragon flew in circles overhead.

The obsidian dragon whipped her head towards me as I approached.

“Back off!” She hissed. “I found these three attempting to enter the egg cavern. What I do to them is none of your business, unless you’d like to suffer the same fate.”

“We told you, we’re just looking around!” Denki protested. “We didn’t know there were any eggs or other dragons in these caves!”

“Shut up!” The female dragon lashed her tail like a whip in Denki’s direction.

A low growl rose in my throat. The dragon turned away from me and back to Denki, Mina, and Hanta, raising up on her hind legs and opening her mouth with a deafening roar.

I shifted into my dragon form, darting in front of the female and spreading my spiked wings to reveal their black scarred undersides and shield the three cornered humans. My eyes blazed with anger. This bitch wasn’t going to lay a tooth on my friends.

“Back away. Now.” I growled.

The look in the dragon’s eyes changed from anger to fear to confusion to recognition. “Eijirou?” She asked.

“What’s it to you?” I raised my wings higher, nearly twice her size in my largest form.

“Do you not remember me?” the female sat back on her haunches and began to glow. Her wings melted into a black scaled cape with spikes on a collar around her neck. Her body shrank and her horns fell into long black hair. A human woman stood before us now, wearing a warrior queen’s attire. “I’m your mother.”

“His  _ what _ ?” Katsui spat. “As far as I know, all of Eijirou’s family abandoned him when he was captured as a kid. You left him to die. He’s spent his whole life just trying to live, and you’ve been here attacking stupid helpless humans? Mina’s more of a mother to him than you ever will be.”

“Did we really do that?” The silver dragon had landed without us noticing and had shifted into a human as well. He had shaggy silver hair and the longest and thickest white eyelashes I had ever seen. He turned to me. “I’m Tetsutetsu, your cousin. But we’ve never met.”

“We had no choice, Tetsutetsu.” My mother sighed. “I wasn’t the leader at that time, Eijirou’s father was. He forced us to leave. Believe me, I would have stayed if I could.”

“Did he threaten your life? I’ve risked mine many times to save Eijirou, don’t tell me you wouldn’t do the same.” Katsuki sounded disgusted. Mina, Denki, and Hanta just stood there with shocked looks on their faces while the encounter unfolded.

“Not mine.” My mother cut Katsuki off. “He threatened Eijirou. He said, ‘either we kill him and deliver him ourselves, or we leave him and move on’. I had no choice but to hope Eijiirou would survive.”

We all sat in silence for a second. I shifted back to my human form and walked over to Katsuki, taking his hand in mine. “I’m sorry I put you through that.” I said to my mother.

“It’s not your fault. You’re beautifully unique and the world hates that, but there’s nothing wrong with it.” She smiled. “I hope you can forgive me for attacking your friends. I thought they were trying to harm our eggs.”

“It’s their choice if we forgive you or not.” I said.

“Yeah it’s totally fine Mama Kirishima.” Denki gave her a thumbs-up. “We know we aren’t the brightest.”

Mom blinked at them in surprise. “Really?”

“Totally.” Mina agreed. “A little adventure calls for almost getting killed by your best friend’s mom.”

We all laughed, and the mood lightened instantly.

“Well, since you’re exploring, would you like to have a proper tour of the caves?” Mom offered.

“Sure.” Hanta shrugged.

“Sounds cool.” I said.

“Eijirou stays by me.” Katsuki said, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me close to his side. “I still don’t trust you.”

I leaned my head against Katsuki’s shoulder. My mom nodded, an amused look playing across her lips for a second. “Of course, just follow me.”

Tetsutetsu walked beside me and Katsuki as we followed my mother through the sandstone caves.

“What have you been doing for twenty something years?” He asked.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Running for my life every two days, getting captured by a bunch of murderous elves, falling in love with a sparky sparky boom boom man.” I shrugged.

“Ah yes, same over here. Minus the running. And the elves. But I have a boom boom man too.” Tetsutetsu smiled.

“Ooh! But he can’t be more angry than mine.” I puffed out my chest. “He once threatened four random people at a bar because one of them looked at my ass.”

“Mine blew up the meal cave because I forgot to eat one day because I was busy.” Tetsutetsu countered.

“Oh yeah? Well mine-” I started, but Katsuki broke me off with a sigh.

“Is standing right here and would like to clarify that I’m just protecting you, and far more angry than Fluffy Lashes’s boyfriend.” He remarked.

“Boyfriend? Nah, we’ve been married for four years.” Tetsutetsu grinned. “Around here, as soon as we meet our destiny mates we get betrothed to them. And we get married once we’re both twenty.”

“Huh.” Katsuki glared at Tetsutetsu. I knew he thought that sounded like a challenge, which made my heart race.

“You two aren’t married yet?” My mom looked back from her conversation with Mina and Hanta, surprised.

“No, we’ve only known each other for a year or so.” I said.

“But you  _ are _ destiny mates, right?” She asked.

“Yeah, but it’s typical for humans to get to know each other before they get married.” I explained.

“Silly humans.” My mom shook her head. “If you’re destined to be together, just  _ be together _ .”

I laughed. “I guess they are pretty silly, but I’m not in any rush. I already know that I’ll spend my whole life with Katsuki, however we might spend that time together.”

Katsui blushed and looked away from me when I said that, tightening his grip on my waist.

“Oh, Katsuki.” My mom added. “I have something for you.”

We followed her through a looping tunnel into a wide sparkling cave that must have been a throne room. From a shelf on the left side of the room, my mom pulled down a small black box with silver veins. She opened it and pulled out strings of teeth.

“Teeth?” I peered at them curiously.

“Your baby teeth.” She said, and handed them to Kstsuki. “For your necklaces.”

Mina stifled a laugh and Hanta snorted. Denki just wheezed.

“Don’t laugh!” Katsuki yelled, snatching the teeth and draping them around his neck, then pulling me into a quick kiss.

I blushed and smiled. “Thanks, mom.”

“Sure, Eijirou.” She smiled at me. “Oh, also….” She pulled Katsuki away from me and whispered something in his ear. Kat’s eyes widened and he stared at my mom like she had just swallowed the sun.

“Really?” He asked.

Mom winked and handed him a small bag from the same shelf my teeth had been on.

Katsuki stuffed the bag into his satchel and walked back over to me, kissing me on the cheek with an unusual amount of happiness.


	22. Chapter 22

**Katsuki**

_ We stayed with the dragons for another week, meeting Tetsutetsu’s husband and Eijirou’s second mom -his mom had remarried after his dad died in an “accident”. We attended a feast in honor of Eijirou returning home on our last day there, and then packed up to go home. The three days of traveling back to the village were full of laughter and comfort, just three days of best friends being best friends. _

_ Only I remembered the small bag that Mrs. Kirishima had handed me. _

I pulled the gray leather bag out from my dresser, taking a deep breath before opening it. I looked down at the ring in my hand with a light heart. The ring was silver, and had black and red gems in a line through the middle. Kirishima  _ (A/N: they refer to kiri’s mom as kirishima now since everyone calls him eijirou or kiri) _ had told me that it was customary for one of the parents of a dragon to handmake the wedding band they would once wear, and she had worked for years to collect the stones in hopes that Eijirou would one day return to retrieve the ring. I planned to propose the next day.

_ -/time skip brought to you by gay/- _

“What’s all this for?” Eijirou asked as he walked through the white glowing flowers hanging down from our bedroom ceiling.

“It’s been exactly one year since we met.” I said. “I remembered how much you loved these flowers, and I figured I’d hang some here to do something special.”

Eijirou walked over to me and kissed my nose. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” I smiled at him.

Eijirou’s eyes softened and he rested his head on my shoulder, sitting in my lap facing me in a hug. “This year has been the best one of my life.”

“Mine too.” I replied, holding him close. “Do you want to go to the actual tree that these came from tonight?”

“Yes!” Eijirou’s head shot up in excitement. “We haven’t been there together in months.”

“A few rabbits made a nest outside of it.” I said, remembering the fluffy tails that had popped up when I gathered the flowers. 

“Really?” Eijirou’s eyes shone.

“You get excited way too easily.” I laughed.

“Rabbits!” Eijirou stood up and spread his arms. “They’re so cute!”

“Babe, you’re a dragon. Haven’t you eaten rabbits?” I asked.

“Of course not.” Eijirou looked slightly offended. “I don’t eat cute things.”

I laughed again and stood to wrap my arms around Eijirou’s waist. We stood together for a while under the glowing white branches that dangled from the ceiling, enveloped in peace.


	23. Chapter 23

**Eijirou**

I woke up smiling against Katsuki’s chest. I breathed in his warm cinnamon scent and sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I stretched and yawned, the small smile staying on my face even as I climbed out of bed and went to brush my teeth. Something good was going to happen today, I already knew.

I came back to bed to see Katsuki sitting up on the side, staring at something in the palm of his hand.

I laid down on my stomach on the bed and scooched over to him. “What’s that?”

Katsuki quickly closed his hand. “A surprise for later today.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait.” I kissed the back of his hand.

“I invited the idiots over.” Katsuki cracked his neck and back.

“When are they coming?”

“11 o’ clock.”

I looked at the clock on the dresser. “Only an hour to make food for those hungry bastards.”

“Let’s get to it, then.” Katsuki stood up and brushed his hands together.

We walked together to the waterfall pool and caught a few fish. Back at the cave, I roasted the fish while Katsuki prepared herbs and spices to coat them with.

We cut the fish into thin slices and laid them out onto 5 plates in the shape of a flower. It was one of the first fancy food arrangements that Katsuki had taught me how to do. Just as we were finishing the last plate, Denki yelled through the entrance.

“We’re here!” He shouted.

“Well fucking come in then!” Katsuki shouted back.

Denki walked in, Mina and Hanta right behind him. 

“So why’d you have us over?” Mina asked, taking a dish plate and sitting on the ground by the couch with her legs crossed.

“You’ll see.” Katsuki said, handing plates to Denki and Hanta. We all walked over to the couch and sat down, leaving Mina on the floor a few feet away. 

We just sat and talked for a little while, catching up on the events of the week. After 30 minutes or so, Katsuki started fidgeting around a little.

“What’s wrong, Kat?” I asked. He took a deep breath and stood up, sitting his empty plate on the coffee table.

“Um, I have something to say.” He began, pulling something out of his pocket and holding it behind his back. Everyone stopped talking and looked up at him.

“Go ahead man.” Hanta said.

“It’s about the thing Eijirou’s mom gave me. I’d been looking for a way to do this for a while, and now I finally have something to do it with.” Katsuki walked over to me and got down on one knee. I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried to hold back tears. Mina squealed and clutched onto Denki and Hanta’s arms with a death grip. “You’ve made me so happy in the time I’ve known you, and we know we’re destiny mates or whatever…” Katsuki laughed lightly and I did as well, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks.

“Will you marry me, Eijirou Kirishima?” Katsuki pulled a black velvet box from behind his back and opened it to reveal a silver ring embedded with black and red gemstones.

“Yes, of course!” I held out my shaking left hand to let Katsuki slip the ring on my finger. I dove down towards Katsuki and knocked him over with a kiss.

“Hell yes!” Mina yelled.

I laughed in Katsuki’s arms.

_ I love you, I love you, I love you. _ My heart seemed to sing.

_ Fin _


End file.
